As part of PAYETTE’s commitment to community engagement, the firm sponsors an annual, skills-based service program to benefit organizations in the Greater Boston region. This program seeks to connect our practice with local communities by supporting a variety of efforts to make a positive impact through design excellence.
On the Day of Service, PAYETTE donates the time of approximately one-third of the staff for one workday, a value of approximately $35,000, to community-focused initiatives. Leading up to the Day of Service, stakeholders from selected proposals will work with the PAYETTE staff in a collaborative design process tailored to their organization’s mission. The PAYETTE design team will then iterate through ideas and generate design solutions during a day-long charrette. The final deliverable is provided to the Community Partner at the end of January. This exchange of knowledge benefits both PAYETTE and the community partners by constructing a deeper understanding of our city through thoughtful conversations, in-depth explorations, and tangible deliverables completed by design professionals.
The 2025 OpenLAB Boston studio work will be exhibited at Virginia Tech Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th.
Please join us for the following events on Monday, March 2nd:
11:00am - Lecture with Parke MacDowell
1:00pm Lobby talk with Kevin Sullivan
This year’s studio identifies seven sites along the frayed edges of Boston’s Greenway. The Greenway is a one-mile-long linear park running through the heart of the city, reconnecting downtown Boston with its waterfront. Many of the parcels along its edges remain undeveloped and present mute, blank facades to the public realm. Addressing and repairing these edges through acts of infilling, layering, grafting, framing, and placemaking is the core focus of the studio—SUTURE.
PROCESS
Proposals received by the due date in November will be reviewed and 4-6 projects selected. Each project will then be designated a team from the PAYETTE staff. Team size is determined based on the scope of each project and is typically 5-10 team members. Each team will have a project leader responsible for working with the community partners to coordinate scope definition, identify deliverables, and follow up after the Day of Service.
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be based in Massachusetts. The proposal must identify and address a local need. The project must serve the mission of the applying organization.
SELECTION CRITERIA
- Project Viability: Is it feasible to meet the project’s needs within the identified timeframe?
- Organizational Capacity: Is there a clear plan of action after initial design services are provided?
- Identified Need: Is there a clear connection between the project’s impact on the organization and the identified need?
- Organization’s Mission: Does the proposed project meet the mission of the community partner and does it have support from those who will be impacted?
COLLABORATION
Team members and their community partners are asked to participate in at least two planning meetings, scheduled in December and January. These meetings are intended to refine the project scope and identify project deliverables. These meetings will be scheduled by the PAYETTE Team Leaders at a format, time and location that works for both the community partner and the PAYETTE volunteer team. When possible, teams are encouraged to visit their project site and may choose to conduct their planning meetings on-site. On the Day of Service, some teams may invite their Community Partners to observe the charrette.
DAY OF SERVICE DESIGN CHARRETTE & presentation day
On the Day of Service, PAYETTE team members will have a full-day workshop to produce the agreed upon deliverables based on the two prior planning meetings. Community members are not required to attend the Day of Service. Following the Day of Service, the team will provide the community partners with the identified deliverables. The project team and community partners will also be asked to participate in a follow-up survey to evaluate the experience and impact of the day.
After the Day of Service design charrette, teams compile their work into a final deliverable and presentation. In late January, the deliverables are presented to the Community Partners at a Final Presentation Event at PAYETTE’s office.
CONTACT US
If you work at a non-profit institution and have a project that you think might be a good candidate for our Day of Service, please reach out to us at mlkdos@PAYETTE.com to discuss the scope further. You may also email us to receive updates about our official Request for Proposal (RFP) release each Fall.