diff --git a/pkg/loader/fileloader.go b/pkg/loader/fileloader.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d4cd2c68e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/loader/fileloader.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package loader
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/kustomize/util/fs"
+)
+
+const currentDir = "."
+
+// Internal implementation of SchemeLoader interface.
+type fileLoader struct {
+	fs fs.FileSystem
+}
+
+// NewFileLoader returns a SchemeLoader to handle a file system.
+func NewFileLoader(fs fs.FileSystem) SchemeLoader {
+	return &fileLoader{fs: fs}
+}
+
+// Is the location calculated with the root and location params a full file path.
+func (l *fileLoader) IsScheme(root string, location string) bool {
+	fullFilePath, err := l.FullLocation(root, location)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return filepath.IsAbs(fullFilePath)
+}
+
+// If location is a full file path, then ignore root. If location is relative, then
+// join the root path with the location path. Either root or location can be empty,
+// but not both. Special case for ".": Expands to current working directory.
+// Example: "/home/seans/project", "subdir/bar" -> "/home/seans/project/subdir/bar".
+func (l *fileLoader) FullLocation(root string, location string) (string, error) {
+	// First, validate the parameters
+	if len(root) == 0 && len(location) == 0 {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("Unable to calculate full location: root and location empty")
+	}
+	// Special case current directory, expanding to full file path.
+	if location == currentDir {
+		currentDir, err := os.Getwd()
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		location = currentDir
+	}
+	// Assume the location is a full file path. If not, then join root with location.
+	fullLocation := location
+	if !filepath.IsAbs(location) {
+		fullLocation = filepath.Join(root, location)
+	}
+	return fullLocation, nil
+}
+
+// Load returns the bytes from reading a file at fullFilePath.
+// Implements the Loader interface.
+func (l *fileLoader) Load(fullFilePath string) ([]byte, error) {
+	// Validate path to load from is a full file path.
+	if !filepath.IsAbs(fullFilePath) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Attempting to load file without full file path: %s\n", fullFilePath)
+	}
+	return l.fs.ReadFile(fullFilePath)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/loader/loader.go b/pkg/loader/loader.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b0c59d59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/loader/loader.go
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package loader
+
+import "fmt"
+
+// Loader interface exposes methods to read bytes in a scheme-agnostic manner.
+// The Loader encapsulating a root location to calculate where to read from.
+type Loader interface {
+	// Root returns the scheme-specific string representing the root location for this Loader.
+	Root() string
+	// New returns Loader located at newRoot.
+	New(newRoot string) (Loader, error)
+	// Load returns the bytes read from the location or an error.
+	Load(location string) ([]byte, error)
+}
+
+// Private implmentation of Loader interface.
+type loaderImpl struct {
+	root    string
+	schemes []SchemeLoader
+}
+
+// Interface for different types of loaders (e.g. fileLoader, httpLoader, etc.)
+type SchemeLoader interface {
+	// Does this location correspond to this scheme.
+	IsScheme(root string, location string) bool
+	// Combines the root and path into a full location string.
+	FullLocation(root string, path string) (string, error)
+	// Load bytes at scheme-specific location or an error.
+	Load(location string) ([]byte, error)
+}
+
+const emptyRoot = ""
+
+// Init initializes the first loader with the supported schemes.
+// Example schemes: fileLoader, httpLoader, gitLoader.
+func Init(schemes []SchemeLoader) Loader {
+	return &loaderImpl{root: emptyRoot, schemes: schemes}
+}
+
+// Root returns the scheme-specific root location for this Loader.
+func (l *loaderImpl) Root() string {
+	return l.root
+}
+
+// Returns a new Loader rooted at newRoot. "newRoot" MUST be
+// a directory (not a file). The directory can have a trailing
+// slash or not.
+// Example: "/home/seans/project" or "/home/seans/project/"
+// NOT "/home/seans/project/file.yaml".
+func (l *loaderImpl) New(newRoot string) (Loader, error) {
+	scheme, err := l.getSchemeLoader(newRoot)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	root, err := scheme.FullLocation(l.root, newRoot)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &loaderImpl{root: root, schemes: l.schemes}, nil
+}
+
+// Load returns all the bytes read from scheme-specific location or an error.
+// "location" can be an absolute path, or if relative, full location is
+// calculated from the Root().
+func (l *loaderImpl) Load(location string) ([]byte, error) {
+	scheme, err := l.getSchemeLoader(location)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	fullLocation, err := scheme.FullLocation(l.root, location)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return scheme.Load(fullLocation)
+}
+
+// Helper function to parse scheme from location parameter.
+func (l *loaderImpl) getSchemeLoader(location string) (SchemeLoader, error) {
+	for _, scheme := range l.schemes {
+		if scheme.IsScheme(l.root, location) {
+			return scheme, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unknown Scheme: %s, %s\n", l.root, location)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/loader/loader_test.go b/pkg/loader/loader_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db081e8a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/loader/loader_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package loader
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/kustomize/util/fs"
+)
+
+func initializeRootLoader(fakefs fs.FileSystem) Loader {
+	var schemes []SchemeLoader
+	schemes = append(schemes, NewFileLoader(fakefs))
+	rootLoader := Init(schemes)
+	return rootLoader
+}
+
+func TestLoader_Root(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// Initialize the fake file system and the root loader.
+	fakefs := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	fakefs.WriteFile("/home/seans/project/file.yaml", []byte("Unused"))
+	fakefs.WriteFile("/home/seans/project/subdir/file.yaml", []byte("Unused"))
+	fakefs.WriteFile("/home/seans/project2/file.yaml", []byte("Unused"))
+	rootLoader := initializeRootLoader(fakefs)
+
+	_, err := rootLoader.New("")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected error for empty root location not returned")
+	}
+	_, err = rootLoader.New("https://google.com/project")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected error for unknown scheme not returned")
+	}
+
+	// Test with trailing slash in directory.
+	loader, err := rootLoader.New("/home/seans/project/")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected in New(): %v\n", err)
+	}
+	if "/home/seans/project/" != loader.Root() {
+		t.Fatalf("Incorrect Loader Root: %s\n", loader.Root())
+	}
+
+	subLoader, err := loader.New("subdir")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected in New(): %v\n", err)
+	}
+	if "/home/seans/project/subdir" != subLoader.Root() {
+		t.Fatalf("Incorrect Loader Root: %s\n", subLoader.Root())
+	}
+
+	// Test without trailing slash in directory.
+	anotherLoader, err := loader.New("/home/seans/project2")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected in New(): %v\n", err)
+	}
+	if "/home/seans/project2" != anotherLoader.Root() {
+		t.Fatalf("Incorrect Loader Root: %s\n", anotherLoader.Root())
+	}
+
+	// Current directory should be expanded to a full absolute file path.
+	currentDirLoader, err := loader.New(".")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected in New(): %v\n", err)
+	}
+	if !filepath.IsAbs(currentDirLoader.Root()) {
+		t.Fatalf("Incorrect Loader Root: %s\n", currentDirLoader.Root())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestLoader_Load(t *testing.T) {
+
+	// Initialize the fake file system and the root loader.
+	fakefs := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	fakefs.WriteFile("/home/seans/project/file.yaml", []byte("This is a yaml file"))
+	fakefs.WriteFile("/home/seans/project/subdir/file.yaml", []byte("Subdirectory file content"))
+	fakefs.WriteFile("/home/seans/project2/file.yaml", []byte("This is another yaml file"))
+	rootLoader := initializeRootLoader(fakefs)
+
+	loader, err := rootLoader.New("/home/seans/project")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected in New(): %v\n", err)
+	}
+	fileBytes, err := loader.Load("file.yaml") // Load relative to root location
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error in Load(): %v", err)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual([]byte("This is a yaml file"), fileBytes) {
+		t.Fatalf("Load failed. Expected %s, but got %s", "This is a yaml file", fileBytes)
+	}
+
+	fileBytes, err = loader.Load("subdir/file.yaml")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error in Load(): %v", err)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual([]byte("Subdirectory file content"), fileBytes) {
+		t.Fatalf("Load failed. Expected %s, but got %s", "Subdirectory file content", fileBytes)
+	}
+
+	fileBytes, err = loader.Load("/home/seans/project2/file.yaml")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error in Load(): %v", err)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual([]byte("This is another yaml file"), fileBytes) {
+		t.Fatalf("Load failed. Expected %s, but got %s", "This is another yaml file", fileBytes)
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/pkg/loader/loadertest/fake_loader.go b/pkg/loader/loadertest/fake_loader.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9887510a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/loader/loadertest/fake_loader.go
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package loadertest
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/kustomize/util/fs"
+	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/loader"
+)
+
+// FakeLoader encapsulates the delegate Loader and the fake file system.
+type FakeLoader struct {
+	fs       fs.FileSystem
+	delegate loader.Loader
+}
+
+// NewFakeLoader returns a Loader that delegates calls, and encapsulates
+// a fake file system that the Loader reads from. "initialDir" parameter
+// must be an full, absolute directory (trailing slash doesn't matter).
+func NewFakeLoader(initialDir string) FakeLoader {
+	// Create fake filesystem and inject it into initial Loader.
+	fakefs := fs.MakeFakeFS()
+	var schemes []loader.SchemeLoader
+	schemes = append(schemes, loader.NewFileLoader(fakefs))
+	rootLoader := loader.Init(schemes)
+	loader, _ := rootLoader.New(initialDir)
+	return FakeLoader{fs: fakefs, delegate: loader}
+}
+
+// Adds a fake file to the file system.
+func (f FakeLoader) AddFile(fullFilePath string, content []byte) error {
+	return f.fs.WriteFile(fullFilePath, content)
+}
+
+// Adds a fake directory to the file system.
+func (f FakeLoader) AddDirectory(fullDirPath string, mode os.FileMode) error {
+	return f.fs.Mkdir(fullDirPath, mode)
+}
+
+func (f FakeLoader) Root() string {
+	return f.delegate.Root()
+}
+
+func (f FakeLoader) New(newRoot string) (loader.Loader, error) {
+	return f.delegate.New(newRoot)
+}
+
+func (f FakeLoader) Load(location string) ([]byte, error) {
+	return f.delegate.Load(location)
+}