Primera Baptista Inglesia: Historic Loft Conversion, 2007
Size: 3,800 s.f.
Location: San Jose, California
Endorsed as an historic resource by the City of San Jose, this church was originally build in the late 1800s by a protestant congregation. In the mid 1900s, a baptistery was added to the rear of the existing nave, and the building became the home of a Baptist ministry, which remains an active congregation to this day. The congregation chose to sell its property near downtown San Jose and relocate to a new facility. The existing property and church were re-planned as a high-density urban residential development. The church was relocated a few hundred yards to have a civic presence at the corner of Delmus and Park Avenue.
To retain the community connection of the building, a portion of the ground floor was re-planned as a cafe space with the remaining area converted to three urban lofts. This way, the front door to the church will remain in public use. The two main public facades were unaltered. The rear and sides have alterations necessary for the inclusion of a second story within the existing high volume of the nave and narthex of the structure. This second floor is the bedroom space for the new urban lofts
