Frick Building
- Architect
- D. H. Burnham & Company
- Year
- 1902
- City
- Pittsburgh, PA
The Frick Building is a 1902 office tower at 437 Grant Street that industrialist Henry Clay Frick built to outshine a nearby tower owned by his estranged former partner, Andrew Carnegie. Designed by Daniel H. Burnham of Chicago's D.H. Burnham & Company, it rose 330 feet and 20 stories, making it Pittsburgh's tallest building when it opened on March 15, 1902.
the building
A rivalry made concrete. Frick and Carnegie had split as business partners and become rivals; Frick built his tower next to a building owned by Carnegie, on the site of the former Saint Peter Episcopal Church, and had it designed specifically to overshadow Carnegie's.
A shifting floor count. The Frick Building originally had 20 floors above ground. After the surrounding streetscape was regraded in 1912, its basement became the street-level entrance, leading some sources to count it as 21 stories.
the architect
Daniel H. Burnham led D.H. Burnham & Company of Chicago, one of the era's most prominent architecture firms. The firm executed eleven designs for Pittsburgh, of which the Frick Building is one of only seven that still survive.
significance
The Frick Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark.
nearby
- Kaufmann's Building
- Union Trust Building
- Pittsburgh City-County Building
- BNY Mellon Center
- Allegheny County Courthouse
- Old Allegheny County Jail