{"nrhp_refnum":"85000457","name":"Byrnes & Kiefer Building","other_names":["1133 Penn Avenue Building","Gloekler Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1127-1133 Penn Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.445651001000044,"lon":-79.99311571899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-03-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story commercial loft building of sandstone and wood-and-glass infill on Penn Avenue in the 1100 block of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1892 for the Gloekler equipment business and later housed the Byrnes & Kiefer Company wholesale operation.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be one of the earliest and most innovative Richardsonian Romanesque loft buildings on Penn Avenue, with a wood and glass curtain-wall infill that admitted far more daylight than typical stone Romanesque structures. Its structural efficiency and light appearance are presented as an important step toward the Commercial Style. It is also regarded as a local business landmark, given its long association with the Byrnes & Kiefer Company, which owned it for nearly fifty years.","narrative":"Built in 1892 on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh, the six-story loft building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and faces the wholesale and light manufacturing district near the old canal basin. Its sandstone facade is divided into three bays by narrow rusticated piers and large Romanesque arches. Between the arches, five stories of wood and glass infill form an early curtain wall that lets in far more daylight than the punched windows of typical stone commercial buildings of the period. Charles Gloekler, who assembled the four lots and ran an equipment manufacturing and distribution firm, commissioned it for production work. Later the Byrnes & Kiefer Company occupied the building from 1923 for nearly fifty years, operating a wholesale business supplying bakeries. The building's light, efficient structure is regarded as a significant step in the development of Pittsburgh's commercial architecture. The ground floor was remodeled in the early 1950s, though much of the original interior timber framing survives.","period_of_significance":"1892","architect_builder":"Murphy & Hamilton (builder/architect as listed); contractor not separately named","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The original ground floor was altered in the early 1950s, but the upper floors and facade are largely intact.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.969175-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/85000457.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000457/28b0cbd84a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000457/28b0cbd84a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byrnes_%26_Kiefer_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byrnes_%26_Kiefer_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997714","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byrnes_%26_Kiefer_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5004265"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/byrnes-and-kiefer-building-85000457/"}