Walking Tour: HISTORIC ALCOA BUILDING

The original headquarters of the Aluminum Company of America has been an extraordinary presence on Downtown’s landscape ever since rising from its site between 1961 and 1963. The world’s first building clad in aluminum, it is literally a skyscraper-size advertisement for the material: staircases, light fixtures, elevators, mail chutes, and even sculpture were fabricated in aluminum. It was designed by Harrison & Abramovitz, the same New York City firm that brought to Pittsburgh the U.S. Steel Tower and several other buildings in Downtown.

The Alcoa building has experienced two changes in ownership since 1998 and is now owned by a Philadelphia company that carried out a comprehensive renovation of the building and converted part of it from offices to apartments. Recognizing the building’s significance, it named the apartment section The Residences at the Historic Alcoa Building. Our tour will be led by a principal of Strada, the architectural firm that designed the renovation and conversion.

Tour meeting point:  Lobby of the Historic Alcoa Building, 611 William Penn Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Tour ending point:  Lobby of the Historic Alcoa Building

Please arrive 15 minutes before start time in order to ensure that the tour gets underway on time.