Space2Sprout: Reimaging a Parking Space for Park(ing) Day

Most people don’t look at a parking space and see potential. But every year on PARK(ing) Day, that’s exactly what designers, planners, and community advocates across Philadelphia do. Temporary parks and public spaces pop up throughout the city, encouraging people to rethink how even the smallest pieces of our urban environment can serve a greater purpose.

For Spiezle’s Emerging Professionals Group (EPG), that purpose this year was Space2Sprout; a parklet designed to spark conversation about healthy food access and the role public spaces play in cultivating stronger communities.

This year, Space2Sprout brought that idea to life through an interactive city garden designed to spark conversation about healthy food access. The enclosed garden encouraged passersby to pause, explore, and reflect on the relationship between food, people, and community. One of its most popular features was a pallet wall lined with herb seedlings, giving visitors the opportunity to take home basil, thyme, or cilantro and continue the experience beyond PARK(ing) Day.

Bringing the concept to life required plenty of creativity and a few inventive construction techniques. The EPG team built two large wooden planters and repurposed pallets to create the parklet’s back wall and shelving. To form the arched enclosure, team members shaped lengths of PEX tubing, reinforced them with wooden dowels, and wrapped the structure in garden shade cloth. The finishing touch was a selection of herb seedlings that visitors could take home, creating a lasting connection to the parklet and its message of growth and community.

The project came together through a series of after-hours build sessions organized by the EPG committee. Team members Lauren McCabe, Tim Appman, Gia Mee, Danny Christie, Chloe Diaz, and Rachel Dunkelberger worked within a tight timeline to transform the concept into a welcoming, budget-friendly public space.

Once PARK(ing) Day arrived, Space2Sprout quickly became a destination for conversation. Passersby stopped to learn more about the parklet, PARK(ing) Day, and the challenges surrounding food access in urban communities. Throughout the day, more than 40 herb seedlings found new homes, encouraging residents to explore growing fresh food for themselves.

“Every year it feels like our designs are getting more ambitious, and this year was no different,” said Lauren McCabe. “Bringing awareness to food insecurity in the city through an interactive, community-focused experience made this year’s parklet especially meaningful.”

At its heart, PARK(ing) Day is about seeing familiar spaces in a new way and imagining what they could become. Through Space2Sprout, the EPG team transformed a single parking space into a living garden that sparked conversations about food access, sustainability, and community well-being.

We’re proud of the EPG team for bringing this year’s concept to life and demonstrating how thoughtful design can create opportunities to connect, learn, and grow.