Creativity Among Stones and Steel.

Since moving in on Halloween 1992, our building quickly became a symbol for the firm and our culture. Its fascinating history and distinctive architectural eye-candy inspire creativity, while continuing to shape our own story.

  • Previously occupied by a wooden porch, the front vestibule incorporates materials indigenous to Pittsburgh's history—glass, aluminum and steel.
  • One of several fireplaces and a massive stone mantle dominates the first-floor conference room.
  • We removed the staircase from the center of the building, opting for a welded steel-and-cable structure. It was made by the company that created Hannibal Lecter's cage for <em>The Silence of the Lambs</em>.
  • Three offices, a library, kitchen, production room, and lounge for impromptu meetings occupy the second floor.
  • Workstations that were built on-site from bent steel are nestled in the dormer windows.

We purchased the Mansfield Brown house in 1992 and began a four-month renovation to convert it into a 3,700-sq. ft. design office with the help of local architect Gary Carlough. Since the building is not a registered historic landmark, we embarked on a modernization, not a preservation, with a design strategy that was thoroughly modern, yet solidly historic.

HOW Magazine

HOW

Our building was featured in HOW magazine, April 1997. Read the entire article

A little bit of building history

  • 1820The building's heavy timber structure is an Amish, mortise and tenon construction. Massive beams are slotted and pegged to support the main structure. Hand-hewn tree trunks support the foundation.
  • 1825The building housed one of the region's first schools and in the late 1820s, Reverend Joseph Kerr founded one his first seminaries here. In the 1900s, the building became a private school for girls.
  • 1851On June 25, 1851, a meeting conducted by Mansfield Brown was held at his home to discuss the creation and construction of The First Presbyterian Church. Completed in May 1853, it was the area's first religious organization.
  • 1863It is speculated that the Mansfield Brown house was a stop on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Fugitive slaves took refuge in a tunnel-like cave that runs the entire length of the building.
  • 1894Our building's namesake is Mansfield B. Brown, one of the area's most illustrious leaders. He developed plans for the town of Mansfield in 1852. In 1894, the adjoining boroughs of Chartiers and Mansfield were consolidated and named Carnegie.
  • 1923During Prohibition, the building became a bootlegger's headquarters. Local lore has it that after a raid, the whole town smelled of moonshine for days. Barrel marks still adorn the original floors on the building's second floor.