Our History
Creating Enduring Architecture for Over 130 Years
Edward Stotz (who once shook hands with Geronimo) was just 21 years old and had never been to college - nor had most American architects. He wrote his specifications in longhand by gaslight, traveled to work by horse-drawn streetcar, and lived in a city without a single steel framed building. Skyscrapers, elevators, and blueprints were all in their infancy.
While Edward Stotz and his colleagues changed the way buildings look and feel, they also created standards for the practice of architecture. They built up the American Institute of Architects and developed codes to make buildings safer. They made architecture a respected profession, and they made buildings we call landmarks today.
Edward Stotz's sons, Charles Morse Stotz and Edward Stotz, Jr., carried on their father's commitment to people oriented architecture of substance and pleasing detail. Similar-minded architects joined them, building to last in a world of change and flux.
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MCF Architecture is the architectural firm founded on the Stotzs' integrity, tradition, and passion for building well. We are architects who for over 130 years have designed hospitals, theaters, schools and colleges, laboratories, offices, and residences. We have rejuvenated historic buildings and designed new structures, always keeping the scale of the person in mind. In our fountain at Point State Park we have given Pittsburgh a symbol of grandeur and beauty.
1897
SOUTH SIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Mr. Stotz designs the South Side High School at Tenth and Carson Streets. Despite unusual foundation conditions (it stands on the site of an abandoned glass factory) this building too comes in $1,500 under budget.
1903
THE CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY
Edward Stotz's practice is 13 years old, and in those 13 years Pittsburgh has gained more than 80,000 people. To serve this growing population, the Diocese of Pittsburgh commissions the Romanesque Revival Church of the Epiphany at the corner of Centre Avenue and Washington Place.
1889
IRON CITY BREWING STABLES
In the first decade of the 20th century Edward Stotz 's practice flourished on beer -commissions to design and convert stables, power plants, ice and stock houses, and bottling buildings for the Pittsburgh Brewing Company.
1916
SCHENLEY HIGH SCHOOL
One of the highlights of Edward Stotz 's career-the triangular Schenley High School-is rising in Schenley Heights. Ranking "among the first ten high schools in the United States" and better equipped than many universities.
1902-1903
SISTERS OF MERCY
MOTHERHOUSE
The success of Mercy Hospital's School of Nursing {founded in 1893) calls for a much larger nurses' home. Built at the top of the Bluff and overlooking downtown Pittsburgh, the high-rise Renaissance-Romanesque structure embraces a grassy courtyard that gives the feel of a quiet cloister.
1928
MONONGAHELA NATIONAL BANK
"One of the best naturally lighted rooms in the United States" is how the Pittsburgh Press described the two-story main banking room of the new Monongahela National Bank. The triangular limestone structure (now Wood Street Station) introduces such modern features as low, open tellers' counters and a slot for after-hours deposits
1937
OLD ECONOMY VILLAGE
1945-1974
POINT STATE PARK
Point State Park and its splendid fountain are fitting symbols of Pittsburgh's importance, power and beauty. They give pride to the city, and pride to the architects who created them.
