The U.S. Steel Tower, also known as the Steel Building or USX Tower (1988–2001), is a 64-story skyscraper at 600
Grant Street
Grant Street is the main government and business corridor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is home to the global headquarters of U.S. Steel, Koppers Chemicals, and Oxford Development. It also is home to the seat of Allegheny County, City of Pitts ...
in
downtown Pittsburgh
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The interior has of leasable space. Standing tall, it is the
tallest building in Pittsburgh, the
fifth-tallest in Pennsylvania, the
69th-tallest in the United States, and the
200th-tallest in the world. It held its opening dedication on September 30, 1971.
The tower's original name when completed was the U.S. Steel Tower and was changed to USX Tower in 1988. The name was changed back to the U.S. Steel Tower in January 2002 to reflect
U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
's new corporate identity (USX was the 1990s combined oil/energy/steel conglomerate). Although no longer the owner of the building, U.S. Steel remains one of the largest
tenants
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...
.
History
Prior to 1970, the tallest building in Pittsburgh at 44 stories was the Gulf Building (now known as the
Gulf Tower
The Gulf Tower is a 44-story, Art Deco skyscraper in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The tower is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of the city and is named for the Gulf Oil Corporation, one of the leading multinational ...
). In the planning stages, U.S. Steel executives considered making the building the world's tallest, but settled on and the distinction of being the tallest building outside New York and Chicago. However, it eventually lost even that distinction to newer buildings erected across the United States.
The building contains over 44,000 U.S. tons (40,000 metric tons) of structural steel, and almost an acre of office space per floor. The U.S. Steel Tower is
architecturally
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
noted for its triangular shape with indented corners. The building also made history by being the first to use liquid-filled
fireproof
Fireproofing is rendering something (structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be used as a n ...
ed columns. U.S. Steel deliberately placed the massive steel columns on the exterior of the building to showcase a new product called
Cor-ten
Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting, and form a stable rus ...
steel. Cor-ten resists the corrosive effects of rain, snow, ice, fog, and other meteorological conditions by forming a coating of dark brown oxidation over the metal, which inhibits deeper penetration and doesn't need painting and costly rust-prevention maintenance over the years. The initial weathering of the material resulted in a discoloration of the surrounding city sidewalks, as well as other nearby buildings. A cleanup effort was orchestrated by the corporation once weathering was complete to undo this damage, but the sidewalks still have a rusty tinge. The Cor-Ten steel for the building was made at the former
U.S. Steel Homestead Works.
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...
, which had its headquarters in the building, displayed a large model of the Rockwell-designed NASA Space Shuttle in the building's lobby until the company moved its headquarters to
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
in 1988.
In May 1986, two men parachuted off the roof of the tower before being arrested by
Pittsburgh Police
The Pittsburgh Police (PBP), officially the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, is the largest law enforcement agency in Western Pennsylvania and the third largest in Pennsylvania. The modern force of salaried and professional officers was founded in ...
near the Civic Arena.
Currently, the largest tenant of the building is
UPMC, which occupies of office space within the tower. In 2008, UPMC added signage, lights displaying "UPMC," to the top of the tower for the first time in its history, a move that was criticized by some involved in the construction of the structure.
Possible departure of US Steel
On November 24, 2014, US Steel announced that they would be leaving the U.S. Steel Tower as an anchor tenant to build new office space at the adjacent site of the former
Civic Arena. U.S. Steel canceled those plans in November 2015 and announced they would stay in the U.S. Steel Tower until at least 2017.
Features
Water filled columns
Although accepted for bridges, etc., exposing structural Cor-Ten in a building was not possible using standard construction methods because steel needed to be protected by concrete or an applied insulation to meet the fire-protection requirements of
building code
A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permission ...
s. Fire protection was achieved for the 18 columns of this tower by making them hollow and filled with a water/antifreeze/rust inhibitor mixture, a technique patented in the 19th century.
In another building cited in 1970, the horizontal beams were also hollow and interconnected with the columns, the entire system tested to be leakproof.
[
]
LEED Certification
In 2019, Winthrop Management, with the help of sustainability consulting firm evolveEA, achieved LEED Silver Certification for the US Steel Tower under the Existing Buildings: Operations + Maintenance rating system. The building is one of the largest LEED for O+M: Existing Buildings V4 office buildings in the world. Multiple LEED Certifications have been earned for the interior office spaces inside the tower as well.
Internal systems
The U.S. Steel Tower features several redundant systems that have allowed the building to remain free of unplanned service interruptions since it was constructed. It is fed by two redundant water mains, one from Grant Street and one from 7th Avenue. Both are fully maintained and tested annually. There is a fail over
Failover is switching to a redundant or standby computer server, system, hardware component or network upon the failure or abnormal termination of the previously active application, server, system, hardware component, or network in a computer n ...
system in place, and either main will automatically meet the water demands of the building in the event of a failure. In addition, the building has four redundant water pumps, any one of which can meet the needs of the entire building. The building also has four redundant electrical feeds, which come from several substations.
Finally, the building has fully redundant heating and cooling systems, including two boilers and two water cooled chillers. The heating boilers can burn either natural gas or No. 2 fuel oil. There is no fail over, but manual adjustment of the system in the event of a supply shortage takes only minutes.
Signage
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and do ...
initially leased five floors of the tower, which now serves as the institution's headquarters, in 2007. Although U.S. Steel was the largest tenant in the building at the time, to go along with this lease, the company also purchased new signs reading "UPMC" for the top of each three sides of the building. The Pittsburgh Planning Commission approved the signs. The signage cost $750,000, according to a document submitted in 2006 to the city planning commission.
Much deliberation surrounded the controversial issue of the sign in planning commission meetings.
"U", "P", and a "C" were installed via helicopter on May 3–4, 2008, but weather conditions postponed completion, and the "M" was not installed until some time later.
The sign was completed June 7–8, 2008. Illumination was provided several weeks after installation. Energy efficient LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
lights replaced the neon bulbs used in the original sign in 2019.
Nativity scene
Each year, a ''crèche'', or nativity scene
In the Christianity, Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian language, Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christ ...
, goes on display in the building's courtyard. It is larger than the original nativity, and is the only authorized replica of the Vatican's Christmas crèche in St. Peter's Square.
Roof
Unlike many buildings of similar heights, the U.S. Steel Tower does not taper in width from its lower floors to its higher floors. Accordingly, the tower sports the "largest roof in the world at its height or above", at a size of approximately one acre. This flat expanse was once used as a heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...
, but it has sat dormant since 1992.
Top Of The Triangle
From shortly after the Tower's opening until 2001, the 62nd floor was home to Top of the Triangle, a fine dining restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
that provided unequaled views of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. Unable to negotiate new leasing terms, the restaurant closed after 30 years in business and was replaced with more office spaces.
High Point Park proposal
An organization known as the High Point Park Investigation was formed to explore the possibility of converting the dormant roof of the U.S. Steel Tower into an attraction of some sort—a "pinnacle of perspective where people go to see the view, a signature landmark like the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "'' ...
or the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
". This transformation could take the form of a nature park, a gallery space, or some other type of attraction. The High Point Park Investigation is based at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry and has received the endorsement of regional organizations including the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and VisitPittsburgh.com. A 360-degree, gigapixel panorama of the view available from the building's rooftop can be seen a
www.gigapan.org
o
www.gigapanorama.org
As of January 2010, the building's owner had expressed no interest in developing the roof of the tower, but public interest in the potential of such a project has been high.
In March 2013 a group of architects and designers finished detailed plans for a glass covered 2 floor atrium at the top of the skyscraper, however the building management has not responded thus far to requests for potential construction.
Sightseeing
On clear days, it is possible to spot the U.S. Steel Tower from as far as away, from the top of Chestnut Ridge in the Laurel Highlands
The Laurel Highlands is a region in southwestern Pennsylvania made up of Fayette County, Somerset County and Westmoreland County. It has a population of about 600,000 people.
The region is approximately fifty-five miles southeast of Pitts ...
southeast of the city.
Fictional portrayals
The U.S. Steel Tower makes an appearance in the movie ''Dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
'' and figures prominently in '' Sudden Death'', ''Boys on the Side
'' Boys on the Side '' is a 1995 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross (in his final film as a director). It stars Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, and Mary-Louise Parker as three friends on a cross-country road trip. The screenpl ...
'', ''Striking Distance
''Striking Distance'' is a 1993 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis as Pittsburgh Police homicide detective Thomas Hardy. The film co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, and Tom Sizemore. It was directed by Rowdy Herringto ...
'', ''Jack Reacher
Jack Reacher is the protagonist of a series of crime thriller novels by British author Lee Child. In the stories, Jack Reacher was a major in the US Army's military police. Having left the Army at age 36, Reacher roams the United States, t ...
'' and the video for the 2010 rap song ''Black and Yellow
"Black and Yellow" is a song by American rapper Wiz Khalifa from his third studio album, '' Rolling Papers''. It was released on September 14, 2010, as the lead single from the album. The song was written by Khalifa, along with Stargate, who pr ...
''. It can also be seen in the movie ''The Dark Knight Rises
''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is th ...
'', and in the video for the 1986 song "America" by the KBC Band
KBC Band (also sometimes referred to as The Kantner Balin Casady Band) was formed in 1985 by former Jefferson Airplane (later Jefferson Starship) members Paul Kantner (guitar and vocals), Marty Balin (vocals and guitar) and Jack Casady ( bass). ...
. It is the setting for the Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
network's series of web shorts, ''The Mercury Men
''The Mercury Men'' is a 2011 series of web shorts produced for the Syfy network by writer/director Christopher Preksta. It is shot in a retro, 1950s style, in black and white (stock photos of Apollo are in color). Though it is set in the mid-1 ...
''. It can also be seen in George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...
's 1978 horror film, '' Dawn of the Dead''.
The Tower has also been portrayed in multiple video games set in and around Pittsburgh. It can be seen in the ''Fallout 3
''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...
'' downloadable mission pack The Pitt. It is also viewable in ''The Last of Us
''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. ' ...
'' sporting the letters "NA" at the top instead of the usual "UPMC". Most recently used on daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...
''.
Image Gallery
File:U.S. Steel Tower in Detail.jpg, alt=A black-brown steel building rises upwards., A view showing the corner angles, window layout, and out support beams
File:U.S. Steel Tower Behind Strip District in Morning Light.jpg, Viewed from the 31st Street Bridge in the morning light
See also
*List of tallest buildings in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, is home to over 125 completed high-rise buildings of at least , 32 of which exceed . The tallest building in Pittsburgh is the 64-story U.S. Steel Tower, which r ...
*List of tallest buildings in the United States
The world's first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since then, the United States has been home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, notably has the tallest skyline in the cou ...
*List of skyscrapers
This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Nonbuilding structure, Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (for these, see ''List of tallest ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
Building Website
U.S. Steel
Pittsburgh Press announcement of Tower
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announcement of tower
{{authority control
Skyscraper office buildings in Pittsburgh
Office buildings completed in 1971
Headquarters in the United States
U.S. Steel
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
1971 establishments in Pennsylvania