The old retreat house

The old retreat house is now an office complex.
Chapel Filosoficum and Retreat House Monseigneur Schrijnen.
It is an architecturally extremely important complex.

Former RETREAT HOUSE built in 1932 to a design by architect F.P.J. Peutz. The architectural style used is Nieuwe Bouwen. The building is prominently situated on the Molenberg.

The post-war extensions to the rear and the right-hand side are excluded from protection.

Description

The building consists of a number of volumes in which the various functions of the former retreat house were housed.

The building has a special construction, namely steel skeleton construction with curtain walls of so-called steel tex gaas finished with cement plaster. The interior walls were built in brick. This construction was chosen in consultation with the engineers of the Oranje-Nassau mines. This is due to the location of the retreat house on the fault line of two mining concessions. The various building volumes are covered with flat roofs.

The former retreat house is of cultural-historical value as a special expression of cultural, spiritual, and typological development. The building has architectural-historical value because of its special importance in the history of architecture, as an example of a design in the Nieuwe Bouwen style within the oeuvre of architect F.P.J. Peutz and because of the special connection between exterior and interior. The school derives ensemble value from its special location on the Molenberg and is therefore important for the appearance of this part of Heerlen. After all, the building is of general interest because of the high degree of architectural integrity of the exterior and interior and the architectural-historical, typological, and functional rarity.