Displaying Unity in Diversity
As the umbrella agency for homeland security, Home Team Gallery’s challenges were two-fold. It had to quickly establish an identity as an integrated unit made out of multiple agencies to the public, while coordinating the scope of responsibilities between all agencies involved.
Completed in 2008, this well-thought-out educational experience was necessary to present this new paradigm to the public. The Home Team Academy Gallery also needed to inspire trainees to go beyond the call of duty and take pride in their collaborative efforts to secure their homeland.
The core beliefs and vision of the Home Team helps to frame the exhibit. – Photo courtesy of CPG
Different strengths, one agency
While designing the exhibit experience, we identified the capabilities of each agency as integral to the entire Home Team unit. Each agency possessed a story of its own, handling incidents and situations throughout the history of modern Singapore in their varied manner. They had also worked closely with one another in past crisis situations, albeit unofficially.
Using our propriety 3-State Approach, the research showed us that the Home Team needed to be viewed as:
- Being capable in making Singapore safe through its network of ministries
- The lead organisation in ensuring a secure home for all Singaporeans
- Being able to achieve homeland security through effective and decisive partnership among all key departments
Taking that as a starting point, we identified five major incidents when the Home Team were activated. These situations were showcased in “incident pods” located throughout the entire first level. The pods were designed individually to reflect the different challenges that officers had to deal with. They featured significant national incidents like the Laju terrorist incident or the SARS crisis. The narrative focused on the different home team heroes so that recruits could learn from personal accounts and be inspired.
Each incident pod was designed to reflect the different challenges faced by the officers – Photo courtesy of CPG
This Terrorist Threat Incident Pod reflected the challenges of dealing with asymmetrical warfare – Photo courtesy of CPG
The ties that bind
While the concept of incident pods were unique on their own, we needed something to bring it all together. The significance of having all the work of major agencies placed in one location could not be downplayed. Working on the concept by HKD, the concept of a ribbon “tying it all together” was applied across the entire building.
This giant feature wall unifies everything else in the Home Team Academy Gallery – Photo courtesy of CPG
The ribbon element in another section – Photo courtesy of CPG
The ribbon, a giant luminescent steel feature wall running throughout the entire building, was the unifying element that brought together the history and hard work across agencies. The role of the Ministry was highlighted as coordinating with different agencies. Inter-agency joint operations were also featured to showcase the multi-disciplinary capabilities of the Home Team.
Rising above together
No Home Team endeavour would be complete without involving the community at large and the second level was dedicated to the Overseas Operations & Community Engagement section. This entire level featured memories from the many local and regional exercises undertaken by Home Team agencies in neighbouring countries like Cambodia and East Timor.
The Home Team gallery captures all the efforts undertaken by the agencies – Photo courtesy of CPG
The entire experience of the Home Team gallery drives home the point that each agency is well-equipped to meet all possible security issues head-on. From realistic training exercises to providing overseas aid, the gallery is proof that the Home Team agencies have the training and experience necessary to keep Singapore safe.
Power in Unity: Binding Singapore’s Home Team together
The Home Team Academy Gallery is an example of how a clearly defined purpose and an understanding of the organisation’s core capabilities can define a brand.
We understood that the idea of unity paired with the concept of a multi-disciplinary unit could change the way people saw Singapore’s various homeland security agencies. Ultimately, it is about bringing the Home Teams’ multiplicity of purposes into one shared mission: Safeguarding Singapore.
