Pittsburgh’s Mill 19 Is a Postindustrial Innovation Hub

by Justin R. Wolf, Metropolis Magazine

Published May 1, 2023

Featuring Maura Rockcastle, PLA, ASLA

The Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh, which hugs a U-shaped curve in the Monongahela River, was once a pivotal center in the city’s steel empire. Along the riverbend stands Mill 19, a narrow former factory that is nearly one-third of a mile long. It was once occupied by LTV Coke Works, which closed in 1997, making it the last steel mill to operate within city limits. Today, Steel City’s continuing renaissance into an industrial hub for robotics and AI tech is thoroughly embodied in the gut renovation of Mill 19 by MSR Design.

“It’s an iconic building that gives the whole site a presence you couldn’t otherwise create,” says Don Smith, president of RIDC, the site’s developer. Of course, it would take a pair of rose-tinted glasses to see the redevelopment potential in such an industrial ruin, not to mention transforming it into a place that attracts collaborative, in-person work. The remediation was extensive, says Smith, including lead paint and asbestos abatement, filling existing underground tunnels, and removing the mill’s 18-inch-thick concrete slab, 100-percent of which was broken up and repurposed for landscaping and public realm interventions…

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