Edward J. Weber designed this companion to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and he succeeded in the delicate balance of making the building individual and distinct while still making it fit comfortably in the cathedral complex.
The Chancery and the accompanying Synod Hall were built in 1914, as we can see from this elaborate blackletter cornerstone. Today, after extensive renovation and restoration, the Chancery building is the St. Paul Cathedral Center.
The architect Edward J. Weber was one of Pittsburgh’s most interesting contributions to ecclesiastical architecture, and his ideas are embodied in a book that you can find in a good scan in the Internet Archive:
Catholic Church Buildings: Their Planning and Furnishing. By Edward Joseph Weber, A.A.I.A. New York: Joseph F. Wagner, 1927.
It includes many illustrations, among them some of Weber’s own buildings, especially St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Wheeling.
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