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Glass History 

 PPG Place

 

Pittsburgh Plate Glass  World Headquarters

PPG Place, located in Pittsburgh, PA, is a complex containing 19,750 pieces of glass. It was described by architectural critics and the media as "the crown jewel in Pittsburgh's skyline".

Facts From PPG Place promotional brochure, April 1985:

  • Groundbreaking: 28 January 1981
  • PPG Move into Tower: August-December 1983
  • Retail Opening, Building Two: 14 November 1983
  • Complex Dedication: 11 April 1984
  • Architects: John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson, New York
  • Area of Complex: 5.5 Acres, including 1 acre plaza
  • Buildings: One, 40 stories; Two, Three, Four & Five, 6 stories; Six, 14 stories
  • Rentable Space: 1.5 million square feet office, 70,000 square feet retail
  • Tower Height: 635 feet
  • Height of Tower Corner Spires: 82 feet
  • Total Number of Spires: 231
  • Tower Spire Lights: Fluorescent lamps in corner spires & four medium-height spires
  • Glass: Nearly 1 million square feet neutral silver Solarban 550 clear reflective glass units by PPG; tower glazed with 19,750 pieces of glass
  • Tower Lobbies: East 50 feet high, west 24 feet high, core paneled in Brandied Crimson Spandrelite glass by PPG; 21 passenger & 2 freight elevators in 4 banks, passenger units paneled with unique laminated cracked glass "mirror"
  • Garage: 700 car capacity, 3 levels under ground
  • PPG Place Population: About 6,000 at full occupancy
  • Cost: $200 million


14-Story Bldg
Next to Tower


Construction
Early 1983