Hometown at Melrose Central celebrates a new urban expression of home

Hometown is a new dining and cultural precinct at Melrose Central, bringing together food, art, architecture and technology to create a contemporary place of gathering within Sydney’s growing Melrose Park neighbourhood.

Designed by Basalt Studio, led by Design Director Anthony Ho, the project explores how the familiar rituals and spatial qualities of home can be reinterpreted at an urban scale. Rather than referencing a single city or culture, Hometown draws from the layered character, density and energy of contemporary Asian cities, reinterpreted through an Australian context and its connection to landscape, place and community.

Reimagining the rituals of home

The concept is grounded in three familiar domestic spaces: the dining room, pantry and living room.

The dining room becomes a place of gathering through the precinct’s collection of restaurants and food offerings. The pantry is reimagined as a place of discovery, where familiar and unfamiliar flavours bring different cultures into the everyday. The living room extends into the public realm, creating spaces for people to meet, linger and connect.

These elements are arranged through a network of intimate, mood-lit laneways and shopfronts that lead towards a landmark city square and connect directly with Melrose Park. Together, they establish a sequence of spaces that shifts between intimacy and openness, creating a new urban destination within the emerging high-density neighbourhood.

Architecture as experience

Hometown was conceived as a place that is not simply viewed, but experienced.

The precinct responds to the changing relationship between people and place, particularly the influence of digital media and short-form content. Rather than creating a static backdrop, the design introduces moments of interaction, discovery and movement throughout the public realm.

A glowing neon portal and mirror installation at the entrance establishes the first point of arrival, creating an optical moment that asks visitors to consider whether they are arriving as a Traveller discovering somewhere new, or a Local returning to somewhere familiar.

This idea of transformation is central to the precinct. Through repeated visits, discovery gives way to familiarity, and a destination gradually becomes a place of belonging.

Art, technology and the public realm

A permanent collection of Asian Australian artworks is integrated throughout Hometown, with Basalt Studio collaborating with local artists, designers and digital technologists to embed creative works directly within the architecture and public realm.

Technology forms another layer of the experience. Dynamic lighting, digital projections and interactive installations allow the precinct to evolve throughout the year, responding to seasonal celebrations and cultural moments.

At the centre of the city square, a digital pond introduces a fully interactive artwork featuring procedurally generated koi fish. Developed in collaboration with Illuminate Creative and Sakana Studio, the installation creates an ever-changing environment where no two experiences are the same.

This approach reflects a broader ambition for Hometown: technology is not used as decoration, but as a means of extending the architecture and creating new ways for people to engage with place.

From Traveller to Local

Ultimately, Hometown is designed as a living precinct – one that evolves through its community, its cultural calendar and the experiences of the people who use it.

Food provides the common language, while art, architecture and technology create the framework for discovery. Visitors may arrive as Travellers, but through familiarity, connection and shared experiences, they become Locals.