Masonry Magazine May 1962 Page. 7
This is the Pittsburgh Gage & Supply Co. building in Pittsburgh after its antiquated windows were replaced with functional glass blocks. The building was built for Pittsburgh Gage in 1907.
REMODELING LEADS TO NEW PROFITS
Businessmen are learning that remodeling old buildings can open hidden doors to new profits.
A case in point is the renovation completed recently by Pittsburgh Gage and Supply Company, Pittsburgh-based jobbers who handle mine, railroad, and contractors' supplies.
Pittsburgh Gage is headquartered in a 4-story brick building built for the company in 1907. Originally, when the company operated principally in the Pittsburgh area, all the space was used to store the company's goods. After the company opened four new strategically located warehouses in western Pennsylvania and Parkersburg, West Virginia to service its expanded market activities, much of the warehouse space in the downtown Pittsburgh building no longer was needed.
How best to spruce up an old building?
How to put the empty space to profitable use?
Mr. Beeson, president of Pittsburgh Gage, decided that the first step was to take over the building's second floor and remodel it into new modern offices.
"The old second-floor offices," said Mr. Beeson, "were as drab and drafty as an attic. Temperatures were difficult to maintain during the winter months, and during the summer employees complained about the heat. Our first move was to do something about the dilapidated windows, the source of most of our temperature-control troubles."
The building's antiquated steel and wood sash windows had deteriorated so badly that cold drafts blew in during the winter and water seepage was damaging interior walls.
These old steel angle sash panels in the Pittsburgh Gage & Supply Co. building were so badly rusted and warped that high heat loss and water leakage became a major problem. Before these outdated windows were replaced with functional glass blocks, Pittsburgh Gage spent $5,000 every three or four years just to paint the sashes.
Chester D. May, Aspinwall, Pa., contractor who undertook the renovation project for Pittsburgh Gage, recommended that the windows be replaced with functional glass blocks.
Mr. Beeson and Mr. May agreed that the main purpose of the remodeling was to insure heat control, facilitate air-conditioning and at the same time improve both exterior and interior appearances.
It was decided to install 8 and 12-inch Essex Suntrol glass blocks manufactured by Pittsburgh Corning Corporation.
These light-diffusing blocks have a pale green fibrous insert to reduce glare and solar heat gain. They are designed for sun or non-sun exposures where maximum control of brightness and solar heat and minimum light transmission are desired.
Some decorative blocks also were utilized where appearance outweighed daylighting characteristics and where light control was not a prime consideration. PC Decora blocks were used for interior partitionings and dividers.
As the job progressed, Pittsburgh Gage management was so favorably impressed with the preliminary results that they decided to replace all windows on the three exposed sides
(Continued on page 14)