Sacred Heart Institute

The Message Chapel

Jef Schoors

Naamsesteenweg 355, Heverlee

Heverlee’s Message Chapel is a true ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ with modernist forms and monumental stained glass windows. Light and tranquillity are the hallmarks of this inspiring site.

Jef Schoors

The Message Chapel

The architect Joris Helleputte managed the construction of a monumental, neo-Gothic building complex between 1894 and 1896. It served as a boarding, vocational and agricultural college for girls. Today, the complex has a multifunctional purpose, including a nursery, a care home, educational buildings (from kindergarten to higher education), a boarding school, an archive and a farm. It also still accommodates monastic communities.

Stained glass windows, Eugeen Yoors

The Annunciate Sisters of Heverlee commissioned the design of a chapel in 1930. The resulting Message Chapel was a project run by the ‘The Pilgrim’ artist collective. The chapel is a true Gesamtkunstwerk, after the ideals of the Pilgrim Movement. Architect Flor Van Reeth, glazier Eugeen Yoors and interior designer Rie Haan put their heads together and designed a building infused with light. Van Reeth conceived the modernist design language and choice of materials and Eugeen Yoors the remarkable monumental stained glass windows, which are a model of Flemish glaziers' art. Rie Haan’s interior design creates a harmonious overall entity. The distinct design language, sober appearance and optimal incidence of light have a calming effect.

Jef Schoors