Two Mellon Center, is one of Pittsburgh’s most stunning landmarks. An imposing Flemish-Gothic style limestone structure, the building occupies a full city block and features a sixty-five-feet high mansard roof pitched at a 17° angle. Each elevation of the roof features 38 dormers of varying size that are positioned in three uniform tiers spreading across surfaces of the mansards. The building is also outfitted with two towers that augment the overall height of the structure, a six-foot balustrade wrapping the perimeter of the roofline, and two interior balustrades positioned on the flat areas of the roof surface. 

As the masonry contractor responsible for the full-scale restoration of the building, Graciano Corporation partnered with the architectural and engineering firm of Raths, Raths and Johnson to develop a comprehensive system to stop the water infiltration that had plagued the structure since its original construction in 1919. The five-year, multi-million dollar restoration effort involved repairs to both the main roof and the mansards, installation of a water diversion system and waterproofing of exterior surfaces. The assignment also included replacement of damaged terra-cotta components with glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) and restoration of architectural elements – most notably, the four distinctive terra-cotta eagles positioned at the corners of the building’s roofline. 

After decades of leakage, significant repairs to the structure’s steelwork were also required. Many of the steel angles, pins and channels that anchored the terra cotta had been damaged, and several sections of the steelwork supporting the dormers needed replacement. Due to the steeply pitched roofline, specialized rigging systems with individual man baskets were used to reach the areas targeted for repairs.