Playful urban escape with swings, food and firepits opens soon in San Francisco

There’s a new event space opening up this month in San Francisco’s Mission Bay.

Despite its 16,000 square foot lot, Spark Social SF is a gathering spot designed to feel cozy and intimate. Developed by the SoMa StrEat Food Park team, inspiration for the project came naturally in response to the neighborhood’s limited dining options. Spark was designed to bring together the neighborhood in a warm and welcoming space that includes a beer and sangria garden, spaces for gatherings, and a rotating selection of more than 150 local food trucks.

But Spark is more than simply a lunch venue or event space. Once visitors are done exploring the food trucks and bar, they’ll encounter what amounts to a delightful playground for adults: with front-porch style swings and firepits dotting the lot, along with a relaxing grassy knoll, large-scale games to enjoy, and a vintage double-decker bus open to the public.

The space was designed and built by San Francisco-based LMNOP Design, which handled everything from initial concept and branding to the actual fabrication and construction. During the design process, LMNOP was committed to keeping the space as flexible as possible. For instance, while normally food trucks will be parked in a central location within the lot, they can also easily slide into spaces at the edge of the track to create a continuous central space for large events.

LMNOP also kept sustainability in mind when constructing the venue. The majority of the lumber used in the project was sourced directly from J+C Enterprises, a family-owned business in Northern California which provided salvaged cedar from a 2012 wild fire in Lassen National Forest.

If you’re in the Bay Area and you’d like to experience Spark Social for yourself, you don’t have long to wait. The grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, June 25, 2016 and will feature live music and events throughout the weekend. It’s located on 4th Street between Mission Bay Boulevard North and Missions Bay Boulevard South. Just visit the Spark Social site for more details.