PINHOLE PARKLET San Francisco, CA

How can you best help a community during a pandemic? This project was conceived during the summer of 2020 to create outdoor space for two small businesses that could no longer welcome guests inside because of the COVID-19 pandemic. By creating space to sit and circulate outside the design not only gave the businesses a new lease on life but it also created an open “town square” that allows the community to gather again safely. Taking advantage of San Francisco’s Shared Spaces program, which allowed businesses to quickly create exterior space to operate from, the Walklet was built for a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time of a typical parklet. Utilizing massive, off-the-shelf gabion wall planters, the space was also meant to feel safe from the other, more immediate hazard, the busy street and MUNI bus line just a few feet away. Exit openings, required at least every 20’, helped create the simple form and rhythm of the three planters.