Swire Properties Placemaking Academy

Swire Properties Placemaking Academy 2026 cohort will continue to be shortlisted from the open competition which welcomes students from all Hong Kong universities to join.

What SPPA offers to the apprentices :

• 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, event planning, communications, and charity.

• On-job Training and Mentorship :

Students will be trained and mentored by our senior management, event-planning experts, and thought leaders for event planning and execution

• Talent Retention:

Alumni will be offered with fast-track exposure to job opportunities from the greater Swire Properties community. Until now, more than 28 outstanding alumni have been retained in various positions of Swire Properties

SPPA 2026 Timeline

2 March – 22 May, 2026

Application Period

16 April, 2026

Briefing Session

20 April – 15 May, 2026

Consultation

22 May, 2026

Proposal Submission

1 – 5 June, 2026

Workshop for Shortlisted Teams

8 June, 2026

Judging Session

22 June – 28 August, 2026

Full-time Apprenticeship

7 September – 31 December, 2026

Full-time / Part-time Apprenticeship

Team Formation and Desirable Qualities

White Christmas Street Fair is a large-scale festive event for the community. We welcome students in all fields of study while those with practical skills and previous experience in below aspects are highly desirable :
- Sustainability
- Event Management
- Spatial Design
- Community Engagement
- PR & Marketing
- Digital & Social media

Students are required to sign up for the competition in the form of a team, comprising three to five members. You may need to consider forming a team with diverse backgrounds and skill-sets.

Apply Now

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

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