Project purpose

The HOMIFY initiative started in June 2020 as a way to reimagine four ‘everyday’ open public spaces and the surrounding streets and plazas in Sydney Olympic Park. The project was a partnership with Street Furniture Australia and CM+ Architecture.

A diverse number of outcomes were developed directly in response to community and stakeholder feedback. We are now seeking community feedback on the project and its outcomes.

Scroll down to Have Your Say section to provide your feedback on the project. Consultation closes Friday 31 December 2021.

Please use the “+ FOLLOW” button at the top of this project page if you wish to be kept informed on the project outcomes and updates.

Project background

HOMIFY is a made up word. It stands for "creating a sense of home in our everyday public spaces...."

HOMIFY was a response to a key community feedback of adding colour, vibrancy and experiences to our everyday local spaces. It aims to attract more people outdoors, to relax and socialise, and to feel ‘at home’ in Sydney Olympic Park. Lessons learnt from the experiment can also be used to elevate everyday experiences in other areas of the Park.

As part of this project four local spaces in the Sydney Olympic Town Centre were identified as activation opportunities. Then Sydney Olympic Park Authority in partnership with Street Furniture Australia and CM+ Architecture embarked on a human- centred design process to identify community ideas for these places.

Map showing location of the 4 Homify sites; Jacaranda Square, Stockroute Park & Laneway, Pop-Up Park & Pullman Link, and a photo from each location showing the area.

Community engagement

A 10-week human-centred discovery and research phase began in June 2020 with posters, postcards and digital tools used to inform and engage the community. See community participation page for more information.

Through this process, the community and stakeholders were deeply engaged through a number of innovative ways to establish their needs, aspirations and inspirations. This included:

  • Online discovery workshops
  • Empathy interviews
  • Site observation visits
  • Surveys

The community and stakeholders were informed of the project through various channels:

  • Posters across the town centre and in the residential towers
  • Retailer newsletters
  • Community notices
  • Online surveys

Community participation in the engagement involved:

  • 30 onsite interviews with retailers and residents
  • 70 responses to the community survey
  • Nearly 100 stakeholders participating in online discovery and co-design workshops.
  • The feedback was added to the ongoing feedback from 2019 and 2020.

Community also participated in the creative activations which were undertaken as a result of the engagement outcomes. For more information on this please see the Homify creative activations.


Outcomes

The project has resulted in a number of outcomes.

Have Your Say

Let us know what did you like about the HOMIFY project. Your feedback will help us to deliver better project outcomes. Please use the “+ FOLLOW” button at the top of this page if you wish to be kept informed of project updates.

Content you post as part of this consultation can be viewed by everyone. You are responsible to ensure you have obtained all appropriate consents for content you make available on mySOP Engage in accordance with privacy policy and terms of use. Where content includes any opinion or judgement of any person, we do not purport to support or promote that opinion or judgement. Our control over content on mySOP Engage is limited to removing content in accordance with our moderation guidelines.

Provide your feedback on the HOMIFY project

Let us know your feedback on the Homify project? Share a story or image of things you liked most and why? Let us know what can be improved.

6 contributions
Closed
Activity closed 31/12/2021 at 11:59 PM

Newington neighbour

Even though SOP has advertised & run many small scale events (eg "Movies in the Park") during the 12 yrs I've lived near SOP & tried to walk to SOP regularly, I am put off by 1) psychological barriers of crossing busy car streets (e.g. Hill Rd, Australia Ave) when going to Bicentennial Park 2) large spaces and structures (e.g. Stadium Australia on the way to Cathy Freeman Park) with few people 3) few maps of SOP (not everyone has smartphone) & getting lost. In contrast, I have no problems…

0 Likes 0 Comments

Engagement for a Purpose

I think that the Homify Project was the best engagement process I have ever been a part of and i have conducted consultation and taken part in consultation for over 20 years professionally. The sessions were engaging and inclusive - even during COVID lockdowns, the team listened and then they produced tangible outcomes. These outcomes are evidence that the time spent by SOP staff listening to ALL of us was heard and 'things' have been delivered as a result of this engagement process. I would…

0 Likes 0 Comments