Swire Properties Placemaking Academy

This programme is a competition that welcomes students from all Hong Kong universities. It will once again put the next generation of local youth in the spotlight, as they work together during a six-month apprenticeship to make the White Christmas Street Fair a greener, smarter and more engaging event for the greater Hong Kong community.

In addition, students also took part in:

• Masterclasses:

Totalling more than 100 hours; lectures by industry experts and our department heads, from a variety of backgrounds such as architecture, urban planning, design and communications.

• Mentorship Sessions:

Students were mentored by our senior management, event-planning experts, and thought leaders from the design and community-planning industries.

• An Award-Winning Programme:

Despite only being three-year-old, the SPPA already has 30 alumni whose work has won a variety of awards.

• Accolades include:

the Most Creative Corporate Fundraiser – 2020 edition of Operation Santa Claus; Gold in the Best Creative Idea and Best Public Event categories – 2021 Event Marketing Awards; and Bronze in the Corporate Social Responsibility category – PR Awards Asia 2021.

ANNUAL YEAR-END COMMUNITY EVENT CELEBRATES COMPANY’S
PLACEMAKING EFFORTS OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS

2022 celebration is themed “Bloom & Beyond” and was inspired by the Company’s placemaking efforts over the past five decades. The Street Fair had transformed Tong Chong Street into a blooming Christmas Garden filled with 5,000 Re-poinsettias – upcycled Christmas flowers made from old materials such as recycled Cathay Pacific cabin crew uniforms and bedsheets from Swire Hotels.

Street Fair is fully designed and run by eight local university students from the Swire Properties Placemaking Academy (SPPA). Beginning in July, students joined as a team and pitched ideas to the organisers, with two teams winning a paid six-month project apprenticeship at the SPPA. During the apprenticeship, our top management and SPPA’s star lecturers transferred skills and knowledge to students on Company’s long-term goals in Placemaking, Innovation, and Sustainable Development. To give the eight students a hands-on experience with the skills learnt, they were given the chance to design and execute the Street Fair and set to fill Quarry Bay and the wider Hong Kong community with loads of festive joy.

WALKING INTO THE SANTA’S WHIMSICAL FACTORY

As a continuation of our youth empowerment mission, this year’s event is the first-ever physical Street Fair fully designed and run by seven local university students from the Swire Properties Placemaking Academy (SPPA). Beginning in July, students joined as a team and pitched ideas to the organisers, with two teams winning a paid six-month project apprenticeship at the SPPA. During the apprenticeship, our top management and SPPA’s star lecturers transferred skills and knowledge to students on Company’s long-term goals in Placemaking, Innovation, and Sustainable Development. To give the seven students a hands-on experience on the skills learnt, they were given the chance to design and execute the Street Fair, and set to fill the Quarry Bay and wider Hong Kong community with loads of festive joy.

To make the Street Fair a more unique and engaging event to the community, students from SPPA interviewed stakeholders and community members, and visited the Swire Archives to collect lesser-known stories about the Taikoo Sugar Refinery. With the theme of “Santa’s Whimsical Factory”, the SPPA team set the Sugar Refinery as the blueprint of the event design, and combined the elements of it, including gear wheels and classic design of the candy boxes, with fantasy and Christmas. On one hand, students hope to pay tribute to the golden age of the Sugar Refinery, and bring the collective memory of the Quarry Bay community back to life; on the other hand, they would like to bring a little respite in the midst of the epidemic, and restore the hope and fantasy of Christmas in the community.

In line with the Company’s commitment to sustainable development, the Street Fair aims to become the community's first-ever Zero-Waste Event. The SPPA team worked closely with designers, suppliers, vendors and the Sustainable Development early on, to carefully choose the materials and resources used. The aim is to divert an average of 90% or more of waste from landfills, which will be reused, recycled, composted and/or recovered for productive use in nature or the economy. Through different measures, the team hopes to reduce the excessive waste of the event, and celebrate a green Christmas with the community.

Project Background & Briefing Document:
Download HereEnquiry: hometownheroes@swireproperties.com

Application Documents

For any inquiries, please email to placemaking@swireproperties.com

Placemaking Academy Background

Request For Proposal (with 3 Appendix.)

Swire Properties Placemaking Academy

ANNUAL YEAR-END COMMUNITY EVENT CELEBRATES COMPANY’S PLACEMAKING EFFORTS OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS

ANNUAL YEAR-END COMMUNITY EVENT CELEBRATES COMPANY’S
PLACEMAKING EFFORTS OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS