Design Charrettes
Volunteer for the Design Charrettes Program
As a professional interested in affordable housing, you can share your skills and expertise with organizations and people who need it by volunteering to participate in a three-day Design by Community Charrette.
Volunteer participants are asked to commit to fully contributing to their team and the charrette activities on October 1-3, 2026. All of the charrettes begin the morning on the first day and include meals and snacks throughout the event.
All Charrette Program projects will be presented at the 2026 Housing Colorado Conference in Keystone, Colorado on October 16th.
Please review the Itinerary and Volunteer Application here before making your commitment to this year’s charrettes program. Return both the completed Volunteer Application and the Volunteer Expectations and Requirements form to Andrew Chapin at Andrew.chapin4@gmail.com by Friday, September 18th at 5pm.
A design charrette is an intensive, hands-on, pre-development workshop that brings people from different disciplines and backgrounds together to explore architectural and development options for a particular area or site.
Housing Colorado and the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning began the Design Charrettes program in 2010. It provides non-profit housing developers, housing authorities, and municipalities with pro bono pre-development services for an affordable housing project.
A team of professionals and graduate students that includes architects, urban planners, landscape architects, and municipal staff members, as well as finance, development, and construction professionals, will work with your organization to create affordable housing concepts for an identified program, budget, and site in your community. Previous participants in the Design Charrettes Program have been able to take this pre-design work successfully forward for funding and development.
2026 Timeline
Applications Open
Mid-Summer
3-Day Charrette
Fall
Presentation
Mid-October
Presentations will take place at the Housing Colorado Annual Conference. Check back soon to apply. Contact us for more information.