Building on the success of the SSCI Charrette Series which ran in March 2010, the Scottish Government has launched a new charrette programme, aimed at mainstreaming this innovative approach to development in the built environment within Scottish design and planning practice.
The SSCI Charrette Mainstreaming Programme involves a further series of charrettes across the country, linking new projects with specialist charrette facilitator teams. The programme is designed to assist projects to adopt and deliver design-led approaches to development and to help embed charrette style working in Scottish practice.
Following the submission of 12 projects for the Mainstreaming Programme, the initial projects which have been selected to participate in the initiative are:
- Callander: Proposer, Callander Community Council on behalf of The Callander Partnership
- Johnstone South West: Proposer, Renfrewshire Council
- South Carrick , Girvan: Proposer, South Ayrshire Council
Specialist design teams to act as facilitators for the charrettes have been selected through an EU tendering procurement process for appointment to a list of approved contactors. The winning teams are:
· AREA (formerly Cadell2)
· Austin-Smith: Lord
· BRE Scotland consortium
· John Thompson & Partners
Mini-competitions will be held to select design teams for each charrette project from this list of approved contractors.
Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth John Swinney said:
"It is important that we value and capitalise upon the deep understanding and knowledge held by communities about the places in which they live and work.
"Charrettes can help to harness that knowledge, giving communities a real voice so that they contribute to the development of well-informed plans that provide the best opportunities for their communities to flourish.
"Through the mainstreaming of charrettes, Scotland is leading the way in how communities are contributing to their future environments. This is an innovative process which is grounded in practicality, and this is essential if we are to create sustainable, low-carbon communities across Scotland."
Further information on the SSCI Charrette Series that ran in March 2010 can be found here.