Interested in hiring the CUDC for a project? Here are a few ways we can work together:

Design Practice
The Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) is a non-profit design practice. We have a professional staff of five and we work with communities throughout the Northeast Ohio region on a wide range of design projects including:

• community master plans

• streetscape design concepts

• commercial and residential design guidelines

• community identity and wayfinding plans

• strategies for vacant land reuse

• green space and green infrastructure planning

• campus planning

If you're interested in working with the CUDC, we can arrange a meeting with you to discuss your needs and expectations, timeframe, and budget. The budget depends on the scope of work, the level of community engagement that would be needed, and the final products. Generally speaking, project budgets range from $5,000 to $80,000, depending on the scope of work. The CUDC takes on projects of all sizes and is committed to working within communities’ budget constraints.

Midwest Urban Design Charrette
In addition to the CUDC’s professional practice, the CUDC also houses part of Kent State's graduate programs in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design at the CUDC’s Cleveland facility. Each fall, we bring 12-15 of our graduate students to a community to conduct a Community Design Charrette (or workshop) to address a specific design challenge. The charrette gives students a “real world” experience while addressing a community’s particular design challenge. Over the course of a long weekend (typically Thursday night through Sunday night), the students meet with community leaders and the general public, document existing conditions, and develop a design product. Students are supervised throughout by the professional staff of the CUDC. At the end of the workshop, students compile their work into a product, which is later refined by CUDC staff to meet the needs of our community partner. The cost to the community ranges between $5,000-$10,000 to cover CUDC staff time and the expense of getting our students to the project location and feeding/housing them during the charrette. This cost could be less if there are low-cost places in your community where the students could stay, as well as local restaurants who might be willing to feed the students while we’re in town. The date for the charrette is based on the community's preference, but is typically held in late September or sometime in October.

Please contact CUDC Director Terry Schwarz for more information or to discuss your project by phone at 216.357.3426 or email tschwarz@kent.edu.