From Biscuits to Bits at Bakery Square

Energy and sustainability, Essay, expanding design practices, FULL, Matteo Robiglio, Middle Density, Technology and fabrication

Active Public Spaces, Adaptive reuse, Developing policies, Empowering society, Essay, Exposed concrete, Future Urban Legacy Lab, Hub, Industrial, Light, Pittsburgh, Regenerated industrial facility, Renewal, Technology, Urban Legacy, USA

Excerpt from the book "RE-USA: 20 American Stories of Adaptive Reuse", 2017.

The National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) factory on Penn Avenue, built in 1918, was part of a nationwide expansion plan. In-house architect Albert G. Zimmermann designed the new seven-story plant in compliance with the company’s values of style and worker dignity. Its large windows for natural lightning, showers and locker rooms for employees, and fireproof stairways made it a point of reference even before construction – it was already written about in 1912 and 1916. Other bakeries opened around Nabisco along and near Penn Avenue in the 1920s and 30s.