Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel- Pittsburgh, PA

For a large hotel chain, Marriott does a remarkably good job of converting interesting properties into exceptional hotels. In post-industrial Pittsburgh, a place brimming with potential reuse projects, they did just that by successfully transforming an iconic 1906 skyscraper into the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel.

Designed by society architect Grosvenor Atterbury and funded by industrialist Henry Phipps, the stunning 1906 Italian Renaissance skyscraper was originally known as The Fulton Building. Constructed as part of a pair of 13 story office towers that flanked Sixth Street, The Fulton featured an innovative 7 story exterior arch, an impressive marble lobby, and a stunning 30 foot art glass dome.

The building’s lobby featured a store selling graphophones, records and kentoscopes, while the upper floors housed light filled offices with views of the Allegheny River. During World War II, the U.S. Government purchased The Fulton, and converted the space into a VA hospital, then later federal offices; the stunning lobby dome, already darkened by coal dust, was covered over.

In 1965, the property was purchased by the owner of an adjacent theater, originally a Phipp’s funded vaudeville palace, and the Fulton lobby was converted into a nightclub, complete with a disco ball, glitter cannon, and caged dancers. It was certainly a better fate than that which befell its sibling The Bessemer, which was demolished in 1964 and replaced by a parking garage.

Although in continuous use, by the late 1990s, the 92 year old building was showing it’s age. Dusty and in disrepair, the property was purchased by Marriott in 1998 for $2.45 million dollars; although dilapidated, the property was close to the city’s new stadiums. Following a $45 million dollar renovation, which included asbestos removal and restoration of the lobby skylight, a new 286 room luxury hotel emerged.

Opened in 2001, the hotel was an immediate success. Restored to its former glory, the stunning marble lobby with its grand sweeping staircase proved to be the perfect place for guests to gather. The skylight above, with it’s fishscale detail, completed the space.

Like many Renaissance properties, the rooms themselves are a bit generic, as they are essentially new construction. Fortunately, the spectacular common spaces more than compensate for the modernity of the rooms. Which are in fact perfectly comfortable, and well appointed, just not historic. You can’t have it all.