While there are discernable overlaps between studio core values, the NEW Studio is curriculum driven while aC+a is an open collaborative that operates as a LLC.  When possible projects are developed with resources from both studios, affording NEW Studio students grounded experiences and aC+a clients access to affordable options Robert Michel Charest is the principal of aC+a and the director the NEW Studio. Frequent aC+a collaborators include Pamela Cooke an interior designer and former  Charest student at UNC Greensboro and Adam Gregory a product designer and former Urban Studio student [909 Dillard Street].   

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Robert Michel Charest is an Associate Professor of architecture and design in the Department of Environmental Studies at Elon University. Charest is co-founder of Elon’s Environmental Center at Loy Farm, a trans-disciplinary collaborative focused on sustainable architecture and food production. His work has garnered significant external funding, received numerous awards and has been featured in national as well as international design publications. He is the director of the New Studio [formerly Urban Studio at UNC Greensboro] a community oriented design-build effort steered by the core values of responsibility, affordability and innovation. Charest is also the principal of Atelier Charest + Associates llc, a product, interior design and architecture studio driven by the pursuit of gentle minimalism. Professor Charest has also published and presented widely in the areas of academic design-build, quality affordable housing and community transformation. Originally from Montréal, Québec, Robert holds a post-professional Master of Architecture in History and Theory from McGill University, a Bachelor of Architecture from Université de Montréal and a Design Diploma from Dawson College. He is an apprenticed master carpenter and held a builder’s license, from La régie du bâtiment du Québec, prior to establishing in the U.S. in 2003. He has taught at Université de Montréal, in the Schools of Architecture and of Industrial Design, as well as at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and The University of North Carolina Greensboro. Prior to becoming a scholar, Robert practiced architecture, as well as interior and product design, in Canada, the U.S. and Israel.