The UK’s first San Francisco-style ‘parklet’ has been installed in the London Borough of Hackney. The parklet has been installed on a former loading bay in Pitfield Street to create a space where people can park their bikes and sit and relax. Measuring 8m by 2.6m, the space offers three Sheffield bike stands and a decking area with benches and planters of grasses and herbs. Solar-powered lighting is installed in the floor for safety.

The idea borrows from successful experiments in San Francisco, Portland and other  cities in recent years and championed by campaign groups such as Re-Bar, founders of the annual Park(ing) Day event.

The semi-permanent installation is a joint project by Hackney Council, the charity Sustrans and cycle infrastructure designer Cyclehoop. The scheme, outside a new café, is designed to change the way we think about public space and create green sanctuaries in urban environments.

The project was funded by £5,000 from the Sustrans Innovations Fund and co-funded by the council using Mayor Boris Johnson’s Air Quality Fund. This covers the installation and also monitoring of how the parklet is used in order to evaluate its success.

It will remain on Pitfield Street until 10 August, when the street is due to be pedestrianised as part of the construction of the new Cycle Superhighway 1. The parklet will then be moved to a new location within Hackney, says the council.

Sustrans project leader Ben Addy said: “We believe that London’s streets should be safer and more enjoyable for people walking and cycling. We want to make them spaces where people can relax, and where they actually choose to spend time, which benefits the whole community.

“The parklet sits alongside other interventions, such as 20mph speed limits and filtered permeability, helping to change how we all perceive our streets. It will help make streets social spaces.”

Feryal Demirci, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and sustainability, said: “It is just one small part of our ongoing transformation of Hackney's neighbourhoods into the most liveable and attractive in London, with cleaner and greener streets, filled with healthier and more active residents. Part of this plan is challenging the assumption that our streets are for vehicles only.”

Anthony Lau, managing director of Cyclehoop, added: “The Hackney parklet is inspired by the idea of reclaiming parts of the city for pedestrians and cyclists.”

Sustrans said if the project is well received by the public, similar installations could be made more widely across London and the rest of the UK.