Hi Jazzo’,

This process architects are calling charrette seems to be much the same as a process Engineers are calling Value Engineering. VE uses the expression:

Value = Function divided by Cost

Hence if you reduce cost while maintaining functionality then you have increased the value, anything else is plain old painful cost cutting. Value Engineering depends upon what seems to be a fact, namely that if you bring new minds to a design they will always find ways to improve it. A VE exercise is carried out by some competent newcomers to the design plus one or two of the original design team together with a facilitator and team leader. it may be brief or extended depending on the complexity of the design issues. It may take place following the conceptual design stage but before detailed design commences or later in the design/build process if there is a need to rescue a project in financial difficulties. VE works (we have used it and saved literally tens of millions of dollars on large projects), and it is not a reflection on the abilities of the original design team. If you repeat the exercise with team members drawn from the VE team, plus some more of the original design team, you will gain further improvements. I don’t think anyone has taken this to its limit and I guess a law of diminishing returns comes in to play. Anyway, the schedule imperatives always rule in the end.