Deferring to the historic Sixth Presbyterian Church on the corner, the facades of 1660/1680 Murray Avenue are set back from the street, in line with the neighbors, while the body of the building curls around the apse of the church, forming a European style courtyard with an arcade and trees. This courtyard provides the privacy necessary for a residential building in an urban setting, while maintaining an important spatial connection with the church. The condominium is a wood frame structure and is primarily clad with monumental masonry units that respect the heavy stone construction of the church. Metal panel cladding around the windows and on the upper story helps lighten the materiality of the building in a bow to its smaller-scale residential neighbors.

Creative re-zoning and community support were key elements in the development of this 65,000 SF project. The site originally consisted of 3 separate plots of land – one that included the church — and all were subject to different zoning restrictions. The plots were combined into a single separate zoning district called a Planned Unit Development. With this designation, development rights were calculated based on the average requirements of the districts adjacent to the site, and the allowable area of construction was increased, making development viable.

The Sixth Presbyterian Church partnered with the developer and supported the re-zoning plan in exchange for improvements to its property. The developer paid for the cleaning of the church façade, and provided the church with new landscaping and designated parking spaces in the courtyard area. Additionally, a permanent easement was created in the courtyard which allows the driveway to cross both church and condominium property.

Community groups in the area were vital to the success of the re-zoning application. Most were concerned that the size of the development would overwhelm adjacent residential buildings. Efforts were made to keep the height of the condominium as low as possible. Taking advantage of the site’s natural topography, a basement garage was cut into the ground, thus allowing for resident parking while keeping the condominium levels at three stories. On the Forbes Avenue side of the site, the building was lowered at one end so that it would meet the City’s restrictions on the number of stories. Community members preferred the residential look of a sloped roof on the condominium, which required a height variance. The building could have easily been designed below the height restriction by incorporating flat roofs.

After months of information gathering and discussions with the local residential community, and the Forbes Avenue business community, full support was given to the development plan. The City of Pittsburgh approved the rezoning unopposed, making way for the construction of this uniquely collaborative $5.8 million condominium project.