Our developer-oriented multifamily design approach rocks!
In 2014, ROCKiT Founder Brian DiPietro used his extensive background in Student Housing at WTW Architects to work with principal Rich Bamburak to develop the firm’s multi-family residential/apartment portfolio from the ground up. Projects he led the design and/or project management for during his time at WTW are featured.
Building on Brian’s experience, ROCKiT Architects brings over 15 years of experience dedicated to student housing across the country, with another ten years of experience in multi-family in the Pittsburgh region. At WTW, Brian made relationships with some of the biggest developers both regionally and nationally, resulting in over $1B of student housing and apartments across the country in over 6M SF of buildings of experience. While at WTW, Brian designed everything from wood framed buildings to steel, and block and plank, modular construction, LEED, and even the first net-zero carbon residence hall in the SUNY system of 64 campuses.
We know how to design developer focused apartment buildings as well as anyone
Early on in his career at WTW, ROCKiT founder Brian DiPietro took that expertise in creating student housing communities across the country working firsthand with Allen & O’Hara (later EdR Trust & acquired by Greystar) and applied it to his apartment projects. The result is an unparalleled approach to multi-family design, one that results in buildings with an uncanny ability to serve the wants and needs of developers in their projects.
ROCKiT senior project manager Paul Lipchak adds another level of understanding of the developer’s mindset, having also worked as an architect on Allen & O’Hara projects for several years. Later on, he was employed directly by Allen & O’Hara, primarily focusing on the development of on and off-campus student housing and private apartments.
We deliver Value Added design when asked to Value Engineer
Most Owners think value engineering is a four-letter word, and we agree. That’s why we look at all aspects of a pro forma when tasked with a difficult budget for a project, not just limiting ourselves to conventional construction cost manipulation.
Using our decades of experience working closely with some of the country’s biggest developers, our team knows and understands exactly how pro formas work – and more importantly, how to manipulate them. Paired with what some peers have called “ruthlessly efficient” design to achieve higher than normal building efficiencies, we have unique tools to keep projects on budget.
“You [Brian] often found better ways to accomplish the desired “Look” but using a much more cost-effective approach in design and materials.”
– Todd Dominick, CEO, Rycon Construction Inc.
“Brian was very focused on, not only capturing my vision for the project, but enhancing it! When structural needs compromised my ideas, he came up with some creative solutions.”
– Carrie, Private Residence
We have vast experience to maximize the value of any developer driven project
The name Brian DiPietro is synonymous with multi-family and apartment design in the City of Pittsburgh, having been asked to present as a specialist in Pittsburgh for many developer, realtor, and construction-oriented organizations.
Brian’s apartment experience started with the Hot Metal Flats Apartments for Oxford Development Company, where WTW was hired as the local architect. His relentless dedication to the project and developer in the early stages of the project, led to more projects with the developer, with WTW as the sole architect moving forward. While he only led the early stages of design for the project as project architect (he had to move on to the next one), it was a springboard for him and WTW into the multi-family market in Pittsburgh.
Hot Metal Flats would go on to be the company’s first LEED Gold certified apartment building, an achievement shared by all of Brian’s multi-family building designs to date for those attempting LEED certification.
Along the way some of Brian’s other projects achieved unique milestones, including:
- The largest rooftop solar array within the City of Pittsburgh at the time of completion
- Set piece for filming of Netflix’s Mindhunter TV show
- One of the first voluntarily affordable and one of the first co-living apartment buildings in Pittsburgh
Featured Multifamily & Apartment Projects
