Downtown architectural firm moving to a new space
The region’s largest architectural firm is trading one historic space for another in Downtown — in part with COVID-19 in mind.
Perkins Eastman is moving from the Pennsylvanian at 1100 Liberty Ave. to 525 William Penn Place, where it will occupy the 25th floor of the 41-story skyscraper.
More than 70 people will make the move, which is scheduled to take place next spring. The firm is leaving the Pennsylvanian, a former train station listed on the National Register of Historic Places, after more than 25 years there.
While Perkins Eastman employees in Pittsburgh are still working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, their new quarters at Fifth Avenue and William Penn Place will be far different from the one they have occupied.
For one thing, there will be no assigned desks for individual employees. The firm is designing its space for 85 employees but will have only 44 traditional work stations available.
It’s all part of a plan to provide more collaborative and communal spaces for employees, while at the same time adjusting to the reality that work-from-home situations are here to stay.
“There’s just going to be a lot of variety and choice afforded to our employees,” said Jeff Young, co-managing principal of Perkins Eastman’s Pittsburgh studio.
An internal survey done by the firm after the pandemic hit found that two-thirds of the staff would like to continue working from home one or more days a week even after conditions return to normal.
“There’s a lot that can be accomplished from your home office, living room or kitchen,” Mr. Young said. “We see that having a place in the future.”
Given that, having less space for desk “stuff” and more space for collaboration, mentoring, culture building, resources and showcasing design solutions made sense, he said.
“These are all things you really can’t do in the comfort of your home,” Mr. Young said.
Employees still will have plenty of places to work, even if all of them show up at the office at once, he stressed.
Perkins Eastman was contemplating changes in its work environment, including the option of working from home, even before the pandemic emerged.
COVID-19 “has really accelerated all of these measures,” Mr. Young said.
The firm is not unfamiliar with the building it will be calling its home.
It was hired by New Yorkbased Pearson Partners, which purchased the real estate for $67.65 million in 2016, to modernize the public spaces.
Perkins Eastman renovated the lobby, which now features a new glass facade, and added a tenant lounge and fitness center.
“Perkins Eastman did an impressive job of designing an entirely new, forward-looking ground floor lobby and lounge
experience while respecting the heritage of our 1950s-era modern tower. We’re thrilled to welcome them to their new home,” said David Pearson, managing principal of Pearson Partners.
After 25 years at the Pennsylvanian, the architectural firm decided to relocate as its lease expired.
“We just felt a bit of a fresh start was in order,” Mr. Young said.
The firm signed a multiyear long-term lease. Mr. Young declined to disclose the cost of renovating the space.
Its new headquarters originally was completed in 1951 for Mellon National Bank and U.S. Steel.
It was erected on the site of the old Henry Hotel and was one of the first skyscrapers built in Pittsburgh as part of Mayor David Lawrence’s Renaissance I.
BNY Mellon put the property up for sale in early 2015 as part of an effort to cut real estate costs.
In Pittsburgh, Perkins Eastman has done work on Gateway Center Downtown, 3 Crossings in the Strip District, the redevelopment of the Sears Outlet in Lawrenceville, Downtown’s One Oxford Centre and Nova Place, which involved the redevelopment of the Allegheny Center Mall on the North Side.
It also has designed offices for Google, Philips, Smith+Nephew and SAP.