Downtown Plan Design Charrette: Thursday Studio
Join us for an all-day drop-in studio, a brown-bag lunch presentation, and an informal mid-point pinup for the second day of our multi-day design Charrette. The City’s Downtown Plan consultant will be converting the vacant storefront at 1200 Fourth Street (4th and B, northwest corner, next door to Scandinavian Designs) into a temporary design studio. A team of designers will be on-site preparing sketches, drawings, and plans along. Everyone is welcome and invited to drop by the studio and share their ideas.
Check out the Charrette page for a schedule of all Charrette events between May 8 and May 11.
Open Studio Number One – Thursday, May 9th
10:00am – 6:30pm
1200 Fourth Street
The City’s Downtown Plan consultant will be converting the vacant storefront at 1200 Fourth Street (4th and B, northwest corner, next door to Scandinavian Designs) into a temporary design studio. A team of designers will be on-site preparing sketches, drawings, and plans. Everyone is welcome and invited to drop by the studio and share their ideas.
Historic Resources Brown Bag Presentation – Thursday, May 9th
12:00pm – 1:00pm
1200 Fourth Street
Bring lunch and learn about this key topic
Mid-Point Pinup – Thursday, May 9th, 5:00PM – 6:30pm
1200 Fourth Street
Drop by for an informal pinup by the Design Team to summarize and discuss Charrette progress
Charrette FAQ
What is a Charrette?
Charette (“cart” in French) is a term often used to describe the final, intense work effort expended by art and architecture students to meet a project deadline. The Downtown San Rafael Charrette is a multiple-day public design workshop that will bring together community members, decision makers, and stakeholders to work with a team led by Opticos Design, the City’s Downtown Plan consultant. Results of the Charrette inform the development of an master plan for Downtown San Rafael. All community members are welcome to attend and share ideas at any and all events throughout the course of the Charette! Feedback will be incorporated through a series of ‘feedback loops’ or meetings over the course of the Charrette.
What is the outcome of a Charrette?
The Charrette will result in several options for further consideration including site plans, framework diagrams and 3D renderings addressing land use and built form, program mixes, transportation and parking concepts as well as preliminary discussion of economic impacts and community benefits. The Charrette will conclude with a public meeting summarizing the results on on Saturday, May 11 from 10AM to 12PM!
What happens after the Charrette?
The community will have the opportunity to look at the Charrette plan options online and post comments on the project website. After the Charrette, the Opticos team will be working on further developing the plan options, and evaluating their performance measured against the project’s guiding principles, design objectives and feasibility indicators. Opticos will use feedback from this website to refine their work on the Downtown Precise Plan.