Although Pittsburgh has historically been known for blast furnaces, smokestacks, and, at slightly lower altitudes, the braces and cables of seemingly infinite bridges, its rich architectural heritage includes buildings by HH Richardson, Mies Van der Rohe, and Marcel Breuer. Alongside the projects of such luminaries stands work produced by lesser-known but accomplished craftsmen and several manufacturing sites that distinguish themselves as industrial art. Together, these diverse structures represent a unique cultural legacy, one that, in recent years, has been increasingly preserved—with notable results. The following projects are a shortlist of some of the most impressive renovations recently completed in Pittsburgh. These projects, which celebrate the past and enliven the present, epitomize the transformative power of architecture and reflect the importance of historical context.
The Assembly
Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, The Assembly. ZGF Architects.
Formerly a Model-T assembly line and showroom for the Ford Motor Company, The Assembly had long been in disrepair before Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, began developing it. After Ford sold the building in 1953, The Assembly had a predictably checkered existence. Decades of deindustrialization ultimately left it a vacant eyesore in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield (Little Italy) section.
Designed by ZGF Architects, The Assembly has now been rejuvenated as a busy tech and retail hub. At over 500,000 square feet, The Assembly is not strictly a renovation (a new expansion allows for additional lab and research space), but it is a complete repurposing of a landmark site that embraces both the past and the future. Its major tenant is the University of Pittsburgh, which moved both its School of Medicine and its Hillman Cancer Center into the complex.
Featuring a glass facade interlaced with terra cotta, the new building addition complements its historic context, designed by John H. Graham, Sr. in 1915. ZGF also made imaginative use of the existing six-story crane shed (originally used by Ford to hoist auto parts shipped to the site via railroad), transforming it into a dynamic event space. In 2022, The Assembly achieved a LEED Gold certification for its carbon reduction strategy, its energy efficiency, and its use of recycled materials.
RIDC Mill 19
RIDC Mill 19. MSR Design.
With a footprint of more than a quarter of a mile, Mill 19 is one of the most high-profile recent renovation projects in Pittsburgh. From an oversized industrial ruin to a sprawling state-of-the-art campus for the Manufacturing Futures Initiative (a Carnegie Mellon University program) and the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, Mill 19 reflects the power of adaptive reuse.
Located in Hazelwood Green, Mill 19 not only salvages the weathered infrastructure but revitalizes the site for community use. The last operating steel mill in Pittsburgh (owned by LTV Coke Works), Mill 19 ceased operations in 1997, leaving an unused complex that would slip into disrepair within walking distance of the Monongahela River.
This ambitious project, developed by RIDC and designed by MSR Design and R3A Architects, is now an exemplar of how adaptive reuse can function as both art and a model of sustainable architecture. By removing the original facade and exposing the underlying exoskeleton, the designers recall the achievements of the manufacturing past while simultaneously creating a striking, raw look that suggests industrial art crossed with the modernist transparency of the Centre Pompidou. The angled roof also supports one of the largest single-slope photovoltaic arrays in the United States, generating two megawatts per year.
Roundhouse at Hazelwood Green
Roundhouse at Hazelwood Green. GBBN Architects.
Another standout renovation project in Hazelwood Green is the Roundhouse, now known as the OneValley Innovation Center, a co-working space for start-ups and tech firms designed by GBBN.
The Roundhouse was built in 1887 by the Monongahela Connecting Railroad to repair engines and transport cargo (usually steel) across the country. Its unique purpose as a service center for trains gave the Roundhouse an unusual footprint, deftly repurposed by GBBN not just as office facilities but as greenspace as well. The original “turntable” (designed to rotate trains) has become an outdoor lounge area, with benches atop wheelsets for a neat decorative touch.
Retaining several of the original elements of the Roundhouse gives the project a celebratory air while at the same time highlighting the visual potential of industrial remnants.
After a century of hard usage followed by years of neglect, the Roundhouse hardly seemed like a candidate for a large-scale renovation, much less one with significant aesthetic appeal. But the result of its overhaul is a unique space that captures the spirit of dialogue between past and present. In 2021, the Roundhouse won a First-Place prize from Retrofit Magazine for adaptive reuse of an industrial building.
Union Trust Building
Union Trust Building. Elkus Manfredi Architects.
Not every impressive restoration project focuses on salvaging industrial sites. Inspired by Gothic and Renaissance Revival architecture, the Union Trust Building in downtown Pittsburgh stands out for its dramatic facade and ornate detailing, along with its unusual terra cotta cladding.
Designed by Frederick J. Osterling and John D. Sanderson, the Union Arcade (as it was known under the ownership of Henry Clay Frick) was completed in 1916. Over the next decades, the building underwent varying renovation projects, but by the late 1990s, more than twenty years after it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, it began to look weathered and worn. In 2014 the Davis Companies bought the building and embarked on a rehabilitation of an architectural gem. A $100 million restoration, spearheaded by Elkus Manfredi Architects, left the Union Trust Building resembling its glorious peak.
Along with pragmatic additions—such as a basement parking garage and a new HVAC system— Elkus Manfredi Architects also focused on aesthetic renewal. The terracotta roof tiles were cleaned, and the interior, where a rotunda once featured a stained-glass dome designed by the Ruby Brothers, has been given a face-lift. The dome, hidden years ago by misguided construction, returned to its sparkling heyday; and the original marble interiors were restored to their previous grandeur.
The Union Trust Building was named a National Historic Landmark in 2011 and remains a treasure in downtown Pittsburgh.