Vocation to vacation How a trade school became a TRYP hotel
A former trade school in Lawrenceville where generations of men and women learned bricklaying, drafting, welding and woodworking is the new TRYP Pittsburgh hotel, a Wyndham property that is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.
A reception and tours of the building start Thursday at 11 a.m., but it’s already booking guests. All 108 rooms — which start at $149 and go up to $229 — sold out during last month’s Garth Brooks concert.
The former Washington Vocational School at 177 40th St. retains original stained-glass windows and lockers. Art by 45 local artists adorns the public spaces, halls and guest rooms. Part of the original hardwood gymnasium floor, with black, red and green markings, artfully frames lobby elevators.
TRYP Pittsburgh (www.tryppittsburgh.com) opened May 16, said Jessica Lawrence, director of sales. Situated just steps from Butler Street, the building sat empty for 10 years until 2017. That’s when Century Hospitality, which has offices here and in Wheeling, W.Va., began construction. The school’s auditorium was demolished to create the 100-space parking lot, which has an entrance off the 40th Street Bridge. Parking, by valet only, is $25.
TRYP hotels are geared to travelers between ages 25 and 45. Guest rooms for families include a refrigerator and a set of bunk beds so parents can relax on a king-size bed and still keep an eye on youngsters.
At the check-in desk, hammers, saws and wrenches are neatly displayed behind white metal mesh. On a lobby wall, a television screen plays interviews with trade school alumni. Next to that screen, wallpaper made up of actual yearbook photos shows haircuts of yore. There may be more crew cuts per square inch on this reproduced yearbook page than at a Marine Corps boot camp.
To light a large, wide staircase that rises from the lobby, Jakob Marsico created a dynamic chandelier of white globes whose light changes to mimic ocean waves and wind. The architects were local, as in Desmone. Shelby Weber, an interior designer at Desmone, chose the crisp, cool interiors for the guest rooms and warm reds, golds and blues in the public spaces.
There’s a private reading room off the lobby with books, shelves and an old library card catalog. Original blueprints for the school were reproduced digitally, framed and hung on the first floor. A public gathering space called Bier’s Landing honors Charles W. Bier, architect for a portion of the school built in 1936. The landmark building went on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Each of the four floors of guest rooms has a theme reflecting skills once taught there — drafting, wood, masonry and metal. Savannah Hayes designed the geometric black and white pattern on knit blankets in each guest room.
To create an art installation called “Space Metal on Ice,” Ed Parrish poured hot aluminum into snow at the
Carrie Furnace. Atiya Jones screen-printed designs on chalkboards in each guest room with the help of Commonwealth Press. Seth LeDonne created text-based artwork for guest rooms.
The hotel has two restaurants, Brick Shop and Over Eden, but their opening dates are not set. Brick Shop will have a menu influenced by cuisines of Central and Eastern Europe. The ground floor restaurant offers three cozy booths lined in camel leather plus dark wood tables and a square bar that overlooks 40th Street. A brick arch adorns the top of a gas fireplace.
Over Eden, on the building’s fifth floor, features teardrop-shaped glass pendant lights, a long, brightly lit bar with garage doors that open and views of Downtown and Lawrenceville. Beyond the bar is an outdoor roof deck with seating for 50 people and a fire pit. The outdoor space has a view of the 40th Street Bridge and the hills beyond. The menu will have an Eastern Mediterranean theme with smoky grilled meats, sauces, house-baked bread and vegetables.