We know and love Los Angeles like no other place.
We are proud to have contributed to the fabric of this beautiful city.
KFA provides architecture, design, and master planning services for projects throughout the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area using a collaborative approach tailored to each project. The firm’s expertise encompasses transit-oriented developments; campuses; mixed-use housing, retail, and office projects; affordable, senior, family, and special-needs housing; hotels and restaurants; educational facilities; and adaptive reuse projects.
We believe architecture should be purposeful and inspirational. We achieve this when our buildings actively engage our clients and our communities.
We listen to our clients. From listening comes the understanding that instructs and guides design. Our process is collaborative, informal and evolutionary. We celebrate fresh thinking and we value opinion and instigation.
We want our architecture to respect and better the communities we work in. For us, design begins by immersing ourselves in a site and its surroundings and responding to it with careful consideration.
Last, we get it done. We’re experts in project management, entitlements, and permits. Our diverse teams work together harmoniously to produce great design, meet deadlines and stay on budget.
KFA was founded in 1975 by Wade Killefer, FAIA, who was joined by Barbara Flammang, FAIA, in 1980. Originally a design-build construction company, the firm designed its first library in 1983, first school in 1985, first affordable housing project in 1988, and first mixed-use residential project in 1990. In the 1999, KFA helped spark the resurgence of the historic core in downtown Los Angeles by spearheading the city’s Adaptive Reuse Ordinance. Since then, the firm has completed the conversion of over 50 existing buildings throughout the City into housing, hotels, and commercial space.
Since 2016, the firm has been led by the partnership of Jonathan Watts, AIA, Lise Bornstein, AIA and John Arnold, AIA. Building on its early experience, the firm has dedicated itself to the reshaping of Los Angeles by “designing great places where people flourish,” focusing on multi-family housing, adaptive reuse, hotels, and mixed-use buildings and campuses. The firm has received numerous awards and recognition for its urban, forward-thinking architecture, and in 2016, KFA was honored with the prestigious AIA California Council Firm Award for its portfolio and diverse, culture-rich workplace. Women hold well over half of the management positions at KFA, and in 2020 the firm renewed its commitment to equity by taking the SoCal NOMA DEI Challenge.
