A charrette is a comprehensive community process that brings together all interested and affected parties to collaborate with the designers on a community vision.  This process, which produces full documentation in a few days to a week, has proved to be the most efficient, cost-effective, and enjoyable means of arriving at consensus for a plan.  As a result of the charrette process, projects tend to move more quickly through the approval stage.  The principals of Hall Alminana have Complete Charrette Manager Certificates from the National Charrette Institute.

Organizing a charrette begins weeks before the design team arrives at the site.  Listed below are some of the steps taken prior to and following the charrette:

• Client Contact:  Initial meeting is set up to identify project issues.
• Charrette Schedule: A meeting schedule is established.
• Invitations, Press Releases, and Media Coverage
• Site Tour and Project Overview for the design team
• Customized pre- and post-charrette newspapers are coordinated with client, if desired.
• Base materials are compiled and deadlines reviewed with client.
• Vendors are located for equipment and supplies, which are ordered as needed.
• The charrette team arrives on site and spends the next week designing, critiquing, and presenting plans to the community.
• Following the charrette, the results are produced in a formal report.

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