Grant Building

skyscraper
art-deco
PA
Pittsburgh

About the Grant Building in Pittsburgh
Architect and team
Architectureal style
Spaces and uses
Structure and materials

The Grant Building is an Art-deco skyscraper designed by Henry Hornbostel and built between 1927 and 1930, for a reported $5.50 million dollars, in Pittsburgh, PA.

Its precise street address is 310 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA. You can also find it on the map here.

At the time of its completion in 1930 the Grant Building incorporated solutions that were quite advanced at the time, these included an illuminated beacon atop the building, flashing the word "Pittsburgh" in Morse code, which warned pilots flying at night of the skyscraper's presence. Less of a technological advancement, but still worth pointing out is the fact that every floor was equipped with a shower, something which was not common (and still isn't) for an office building.

The building underwent a major restoration in 2006.

Building's timeline

Construction begins

1927

Construction completed

1930

Restoration

2006

years ago

2024

2006 - A tenant-only gym was built, the garage was renovated, elevators were modernized, and bathrooms and hallways were upgraded.

Architect and team

Henry Hornbostel was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design. But there was also one other architect involved, as far as we know. We are talking about Eric Fisher Wood.

Henry Hornbostel and the other architects already mentioned were in charge of the architectural design, however, architecture is a complex discipline, which usually involves many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the Grant Building a reality:

Dwight P. Robinson & Company as the Main Contractor
W. J. Strassburger as the Main Developer

Architectural Style

The Grant Building can be categorized as an Art-deco building.

The Art Deco movement flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, with many historians marking the outbreak of World War II as its final decline. Even though a couple of decades might not seem as much, the Art Deco movement had a great impact on architecture, and it's widely represented in many American cities due to the development boom that happened during that time.

Art Deco marked the abandonment of traditional historicism and the embracement of modern living and the age of the machine. In architecture, that meant leaving behind the ornaments of Beux-Arts and Neo-Gothic buildings and instead favoring simplicity and visual impact through geometric shapes, clean lines, and symmetrical designs. Ornaments were still an important part of the design, but they became bold and lavish, and were often inspired by ancient cultures or industrial imagery, instead of nature.

The Grant Building was completed in 1930, right when the Art Deco movement was at its peak, so it kind of went with the trend at that time.

Spaces & Uses

The Grant Building reaches an architectural height of 486ft (148m). It has a total of 45 floors, 40 above ground and 5 basements, served by 12 elevators, which combined offer a total of 399,997 sqf (37,161m²) of usable space.

Ever since opening its doors to the public in 1930, the Grant Building has mainly been used as Commercial space.

Materials & Structure

The Grant Building uses a frame structure made of steel columns and concrete slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade is non-load bearing either, as it is common in frame structure type buildings.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features Swedish and Belgian granite wrapping the lower floors of the building, while limestone, buff brick, and cast stone were used above that base.