Award for Religious Architecture, Restoration
DBVW Architects, Inc.
Providence, RI
Completed in 1889, the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul combines Romanesque and Gothic Revival styles that contribute to the character of downtown Providence. In 2018, the Diocese of Providence engaged the design team to perform an assessment and, ultimately, develop construction documents for a multi-phase repair and preservation project that was completed in 2022. The $9.5 million project addressed the deteriorated original building envelope, including comprehensive replacement of the Monson Black slate roof with new matching slate and the meticulous preservation and repair of deteriorated Portland Brownstone at the north elevation and two 156-foot-tall masonry towers.
The Diocese of Providence issued a guiding principle to preserve as much of the original building fabric as possible. The design and Construction Teams worked collaboratively to ensure that repair and replacement of deteriorated brownstone occurred only where necessary to create a weathertight envelope. The Project Team identified an acceptable brownstone replacement that met or exceeded the material properties of the existing stone and matched the color range found on the Cathedral exterior.
The height of the towers and roof areas posed challenges with removing, storing, and transporting material. To address these access challenges, the team included an industrial ropes technician who performed an initial envelope assessment. This involved rappelling down the sides of the building to document as-found conditions, sound masonry, probe exterior woodwork, and remove unsound material that posed a risk. Multiple drone flights involved laser scanning the building exterior and taking high-resolution photography that enabled the Design Team to create a model of the building and detailed rectified orthophotographic building elevations. Both products were critical tools in developing precise to-scale repair packages that expedited on-site review and repair.
Jury Comments
This restoration is an amazing transformation. It was not easy or inexpensive, but it benefits more than just the people who use the cathedral. It is a monumental, community asset that uplifts the neighborhood. A very careful, high-level restoration with copious research. An incredible commitment to detail.
Project Team Members
Michael Viveiros, AIA, Senior Principal
Pierson Booher, AIA, Principal
Christian Caldwell, AIA
Project Consultants
Odeh Engineers, Inc., structural engineering
Consigli Construction, general contractor
Existing Conditions, laser scanning
Vertical Access, existing conditions documentation
Heidi Gumula, DBVW Architects, photography
