KLofts

History
The KLoft site and structure originally served the San Diego community as a Circle K convenience store and gas station. Situated in the Golden Hill neighborhood, this area has recently been experiencing significant gentrification after years deterioration.

(Re)Developer
Private developer and architect Jonathan Segal purchased the site to help further revitalize the neighborhood. Segal proposed an apartment complex with a street-level garage and a small commercial/retail space.^[1] KLofts was designed with a participatory design process creating positive connections between and among residents, community stakeholders, local government officials and civic groups.

Outcome
The design outcome provides a building with public and private space that enhances human scale and further promotes social interaction, shared use of space, defensible space to help revitalize this deteriorating community while at the same time enhancing the community's physical fabric. The project was built at a cost of $82/sf and utilized no governmental subsidy. KLofts is a collection of simple architectural forms collaged to create a nine unit loft building on a 9,000 square foot urban property. The former Circle K convenience store and gas station were saved and integrated into the new design to minimize the deconstruction and make adaptive reuse of the existing building. The modern building integrates urban living environments for a mixture of very low income (50% of median income) affordable and market rate rental units with each unit containing large private outdoor spaces and oversize glazing. The sustainable project provides 50% renewable electricity and a unit set aside for very low income families. The architect/developer worked closely with the community for nine months to ensure a project that is well received by the neighborhood and provides needed affordable housing in San Diego.<sup>[2]

[1]</sup>Architectural Record
^[2]jonathan segal architect

Images courtesy of jonathan segal architect.