Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Encyclopedia
Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson
. It is nicknamed 'The Bake Oven Church' because of its squat, rounded shape and brick construction. It was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 2000.
While the selection of brick was doubtless for reasons of economy, the brickwork is one of the church’s most appealing features. Unlike most of his buildings, Emmanuel Episcopal’s wall surfaces do not have a rough surface, moldings, belt courses or other projections to break up the planes or produce shadow lines. (The bricks do project from the main wall surface just below the eave line. This is accomplished in two steps of different dimension to give a pleasing string course effect.) Stone is used only as sills for the windows, as springing for the three entrance arches and where the foundation is exposed.
This plainness is relieved, in part, by patterning the brickwork. Of particular note, the repetitive triangular pattern at the roofline is called “mousetooth.” The brick patterning gives the impression of finely woven fabric. The sharply incised windows and doors produce dramatic voids.
One of the best known features of Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a mistake. The lower section of the side wall is intended to slope inward as it rises (this is called battering). The upper wall outward slope started to take place shortly after construction. As Richardson had died by this time, the church engaged his former employees, Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, who were unsuccessful in pinpointing the cause. However when that firm added the parish house to the far side of the church, the slope stopped increasing.
The building's address is currently listed as 957 West North Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which is located on the North Side of Pittsburgh. At the time of its building the area was known as the City of Allegheny until 1907 when it was annexed by Pittsburgh and renamed the North Side (or Northside).
(The following description has been taken from the Historic American Buildings Survey report on the Emmanuel Episcopal Church [HABS No. PA 426] by John Milner, Architect, 1963.)
Designed by the Architect H. H. Richardson, the church was erected in 1884-1886. The builder was Henry Shenk. The original plans submitted by H.H. Richardson were for a stone building, approximately the same size as the present church, but designed using the central-tower theme (similar to the Trinity Church in Boston). The estimate of $25,000 was found to be too high, and the congregation rejected the plans. A new budget of $12,000 was presented, and plans for the smaller brick church were submitted and approved.
This building represents one of the finest later works of H.H. Richardson. Of special interest is the relatively simple design given vitality by the delicate brick detailing and the handsome laminated truss system. The building is a one story, simple rectangle with semicircular apse at one end with over-all dimensions of 49' 4" x 100' 0".
The walls are of red brick with various patterns, the richest being on the gable end. The semicircular apse continues the line of the exterior wall at the other end of the building. The battered bases continue the line of the roof slope. Bands of vertical brick (soldier’s course) run across at the top and bottom of the windows, and the brick at the edge of the gables are at right angles to the slope.
The roof is a steep gable with the ridge running north and south. It is slate covered with a molded copper ridge plate. The steep roof descends to relatively low sidewalls. The cornice has a three-course corbel at the eaves. The wood ovolo and cavetto cornice molding extends around the sides and apse of the building. On the east and west elevations, the roof also has three low slate-covered pedimented dormers about one-third up the gable roof. Ninety percent of the roof is still original.
The entrance facade (north elevation) has a high plain gable completely unadorned except for the patterned brickwork. Three low wide arches (the center being the largest) with imposts and plinths of rock-faced blocks of brownstone and broad archivolts of five bands of brick voissoirs are flush with the building plane. This front façade contains three arched lights made of Tiffany glass above the entrance doors, taller in proportion than the entrance arches, with brick banded voissoirs. There is a slot window in the center of the third level with a flat brick arch. Three stone steps with four risers and three treads lead to the large arched wood double doors painted red with large elaborate black iron hinges. An open narthex with balcony overhead is directly inside the door.
The south elevation has three arched lights at the center of the semicircular apse also with banded brick voissoirs. On the east and west elevations there are three groups of three arched windows with banded brick voissoirs and a single arched window at the north end. These windows are wood, two-light casement sashes with three fixed arched lights above. There are three dormers with wood single light curved triangular sash. All of these windows contain Romanesque stained glass.
The interior is rectangular in plan with a center aisle. The semicircular apse at the south end of the building is partially cut off from the nave by banks of organ pipes at either side. There is a narrow rectangular open narthex at the north end with a small enclosed winder stair on the west wall leading from the narthex to the balcony. The narthex is 10' x 44'8"; the nave is 60'6" x 44'8"; and the apse has a 22'4" radius.
The walls have marble reredos, designed and executed by the firm of Leake and Greene of Pittsburgh, with bands of Cosmatesque mosaic in the chancel. (The altar has the same white marble and Cosmatesque mosaic work as the walls.) In the nave, the walls are random width beaded board wainscoting with chair rail. Above the chair rail there is plaster, painted pink, up to the heavily molded wood cornice. There are radiators along outside walls as a part of the central, hot-water heating system. The handsome wood-truss system is exposed on the ceiling. There are three arched doorways at the north end of the church with plain recessed wood architraves leading from the narthex to the chancel. A plain five-paneled door leads to the parish house at the southwest corner of the nave.
The side windows contain Romanesque stained glass, and Tiffany glass is in the triple lights in the entrance gable. The original artificial light in Emmanuel was from three gas chandeliers that hung over the center aisle. At a later date, they were replaced with electrified metal and glass cones that hung over the pews on either side of the center aisle. In the 1998 restoration these were removed, and hidden spotlights in the rafters were used to light the interior.
The floors are modern vinyl tile in the nave and marble in the chancel. The "bright Turkey red carpet" that covered the floor, which was very worn, was removed in the 1998 restoration, and the original pine floors were exposed, sanded and treated with polyurethane.
Also during the 1998 restoration, the oak and ash furniture was removed and cleaned and then put back in their original positions. The original pew cushions, upholstered in dark green velveteen, were replaced at this time with cushions of lipstick red velveteen.
The drapery hangings behind the present original altar, were removed when Mrs. William Thaw, Jr. gave the reredos in 1892 in memory of her husband. At that time the chancel area was extended, and the original pine floors raised up, three marble steps put in and the new floor covered in mosaic tile in keeping with the mosaic tile on the altar.
The magnificent 3 foot (0.9144 m) brass cross, given by Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead in August, 1886 is still on the altar, and the brass eagle lectern made by Gorham in New York is still in place. The baptismal font and cover are original.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...
. It is nicknamed 'The Bake Oven Church' because of its squat, rounded shape and brick construction. It was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 2000.
While the selection of brick was doubtless for reasons of economy, the brickwork is one of the church’s most appealing features. Unlike most of his buildings, Emmanuel Episcopal’s wall surfaces do not have a rough surface, moldings, belt courses or other projections to break up the planes or produce shadow lines. (The bricks do project from the main wall surface just below the eave line. This is accomplished in two steps of different dimension to give a pleasing string course effect.) Stone is used only as sills for the windows, as springing for the three entrance arches and where the foundation is exposed.
This plainness is relieved, in part, by patterning the brickwork. Of particular note, the repetitive triangular pattern at the roofline is called “mousetooth.” The brick patterning gives the impression of finely woven fabric. The sharply incised windows and doors produce dramatic voids.
One of the best known features of Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a mistake. The lower section of the side wall is intended to slope inward as it rises (this is called battering). The upper wall outward slope started to take place shortly after construction. As Richardson had died by this time, the church engaged his former employees, Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, who were unsuccessful in pinpointing the cause. However when that firm added the parish house to the far side of the church, the slope stopped increasing.
The building's address is currently listed as 957 West North Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which is located on the North Side of Pittsburgh. At the time of its building the area was known as the City of Allegheny until 1907 when it was annexed by Pittsburgh and renamed the North Side (or Northside).
(The following description has been taken from the Historic American Buildings Survey report on the Emmanuel Episcopal Church [HABS No. PA 426] by John Milner, Architect, 1963.)
Designed by the Architect H. H. Richardson, the church was erected in 1884-1886. The builder was Henry Shenk. The original plans submitted by H.H. Richardson were for a stone building, approximately the same size as the present church, but designed using the central-tower theme (similar to the Trinity Church in Boston). The estimate of $25,000 was found to be too high, and the congregation rejected the plans. A new budget of $12,000 was presented, and plans for the smaller brick church were submitted and approved.
This building represents one of the finest later works of H.H. Richardson. Of special interest is the relatively simple design given vitality by the delicate brick detailing and the handsome laminated truss system. The building is a one story, simple rectangle with semicircular apse at one end with over-all dimensions of 49' 4" x 100' 0".
The walls are of red brick with various patterns, the richest being on the gable end. The semicircular apse continues the line of the exterior wall at the other end of the building. The battered bases continue the line of the roof slope. Bands of vertical brick (soldier’s course) run across at the top and bottom of the windows, and the brick at the edge of the gables are at right angles to the slope.
The roof is a steep gable with the ridge running north and south. It is slate covered with a molded copper ridge plate. The steep roof descends to relatively low sidewalls. The cornice has a three-course corbel at the eaves. The wood ovolo and cavetto cornice molding extends around the sides and apse of the building. On the east and west elevations, the roof also has three low slate-covered pedimented dormers about one-third up the gable roof. Ninety percent of the roof is still original.
The entrance facade (north elevation) has a high plain gable completely unadorned except for the patterned brickwork. Three low wide arches (the center being the largest) with imposts and plinths of rock-faced blocks of brownstone and broad archivolts of five bands of brick voissoirs are flush with the building plane. This front façade contains three arched lights made of Tiffany glass above the entrance doors, taller in proportion than the entrance arches, with brick banded voissoirs. There is a slot window in the center of the third level with a flat brick arch. Three stone steps with four risers and three treads lead to the large arched wood double doors painted red with large elaborate black iron hinges. An open narthex with balcony overhead is directly inside the door.
The south elevation has three arched lights at the center of the semicircular apse also with banded brick voissoirs. On the east and west elevations there are three groups of three arched windows with banded brick voissoirs and a single arched window at the north end. These windows are wood, two-light casement sashes with three fixed arched lights above. There are three dormers with wood single light curved triangular sash. All of these windows contain Romanesque stained glass.
The interior is rectangular in plan with a center aisle. The semicircular apse at the south end of the building is partially cut off from the nave by banks of organ pipes at either side. There is a narrow rectangular open narthex at the north end with a small enclosed winder stair on the west wall leading from the narthex to the balcony. The narthex is 10' x 44'8"; the nave is 60'6" x 44'8"; and the apse has a 22'4" radius.
The walls have marble reredos, designed and executed by the firm of Leake and Greene of Pittsburgh, with bands of Cosmatesque mosaic in the chancel. (The altar has the same white marble and Cosmatesque mosaic work as the walls.) In the nave, the walls are random width beaded board wainscoting with chair rail. Above the chair rail there is plaster, painted pink, up to the heavily molded wood cornice. There are radiators along outside walls as a part of the central, hot-water heating system. The handsome wood-truss system is exposed on the ceiling. There are three arched doorways at the north end of the church with plain recessed wood architraves leading from the narthex to the chancel. A plain five-paneled door leads to the parish house at the southwest corner of the nave.
The side windows contain Romanesque stained glass, and Tiffany glass is in the triple lights in the entrance gable. The original artificial light in Emmanuel was from three gas chandeliers that hung over the center aisle. At a later date, they were replaced with electrified metal and glass cones that hung over the pews on either side of the center aisle. In the 1998 restoration these were removed, and hidden spotlights in the rafters were used to light the interior.
The floors are modern vinyl tile in the nave and marble in the chancel. The "bright Turkey red carpet" that covered the floor, which was very worn, was removed in the 1998 restoration, and the original pine floors were exposed, sanded and treated with polyurethane.
Also during the 1998 restoration, the oak and ash furniture was removed and cleaned and then put back in their original positions. The original pew cushions, upholstered in dark green velveteen, were replaced at this time with cushions of lipstick red velveteen.
The drapery hangings behind the present original altar, were removed when Mrs. William Thaw, Jr. gave the reredos in 1892 in memory of her husband. At that time the chancel area was extended, and the original pine floors raised up, three marble steps put in and the new floor covered in mosaic tile in keeping with the mosaic tile on the altar.
The magnificent 3 foot (0.9144 m) brass cross, given by Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead in August, 1886 is still on the altar, and the brass eagle lectern made by Gorham in New York is still in place. The baptismal font and cover are original.