DeIulis Completes Saint Raphael’s – Razoyk, Principal Architect

Medford, MA – With the recent opening of its new parish center, the transformation of Saint Raphael Parish in Medford has been completed and DeIulis Brothers Construction has been a big part of the rebuilding process. In the early 1990’s the parish community rallied to rebuild its church when it was destroyed by fire.
The exterior of the new church, with its prominent bell tower, was finished with granite and limestone, while the interior featured an exposed wood ceiling supported by an elaborate system of glu-laminated columns, beams and trusses. DeIulis Brothers craftsmen completed the extensive stone work as well as the detailed carpentry work.
The church opened in 1993 and DeIulis was later recognized for its work on the project by the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts as part of its annual Build Massachusetts Awards Program.
Fifteen years later, plans were launched to replace the parish center that had served as temporary worship space during the rebuilding of the church.
The Spanish style architecture and stucco exterior of the building sat in stark contrast to the Italian themed stone church. George (“Butch”) Razoyk, principal architect of Architectural Design Concepts, was retained to design the new parish center.
Whereas the old parish center was a stand-alone building that sat between the church and the parish K-8 school, Razoyk sought to create a unitary appearance by joining the new building with the church and utilizing complementing design features and materials on the exterior. The new building extended closer to the school, separated only by a driveway. A side entrance at grade level allowed for easy access from the school while an underground utility tunnel connected the parish center to the school at the basement level.
The initial bids were significantly over the project budget. As the low bidder, DeIulis Brothers was given the opportunity to bring the project within budget so that construction could proceed. Razoyk and DeIulis succeeded in indentifying over $1 million in cost savings and reductions, ranging from material substitutions and changes to finishes to more extensive changes in the MEP systems, including a complete redesign of the HVAC system by DeIulis’s subcontractor.
At the start of construction the stone from the courtyard wall outside the church was salvaged and used to rebuild a new stone wall for an expanded courtyard. The exposed aggregate concrete paving that was original to the church courtyard was also removed, to be replaced with Aqua Brick pavers that would allow for surface water to be recharged into the ground.
The proximity of the building to the church and school necessitated the installation earth retention systems during the excavation and foundation phase. The limited site offered minimal lay down areas and made for a challenging steel erection. The expansive hip roof was framed out of wood, using a complex system of wood trusses connected to the steel frame. Many of the trusses had to be field spliced because of their length and height. The exterior wall framing was in-filled with light gauge metal and sheathed with a combination of Dens-Glass and cement board to receive the blended stone and EIFS exterior.
The interior spaces of the 25,000sf, two story building were designed for multiple uses. A wide corridor provides a large open space through the center of the first floor. To one side are three conference rooms of various sizes that are divided by operable partitions, along with a reception area and administrative offices for the parish. On the other side is a large conference room, a senior center and restrooms. On the second floor there is a large reception hall with a full kitchen for parish functions. Lastly, a separate youth center, mechanical rooms and storage areas occupy the basement.