Scheveningen (ZH): O.L. Vrouwe van Lourdeskerk (A.J. Kropholler & C.M. van Moorsel, 1913-1926)

The O.L. Vrouwekerk in Scheveningen could have been A.J. Kropholler's first church, but it didn't happen as planned. Although Kropholler had designed many buildings before, he had never built a church, until he was given the assignment for a new Roman Catholic church in Scheveningen. It was to be more than a church. The complex would include houses too, as well as a chapel. A Roman Catholic complex in a mostly protestant environment, the first of several such complexes Kropholler designed in his long career. In 1913 work started. The chapel and the houses were completed accrding to the design, but of the church only the lower part of the tower was built. The Den Haag municipality, of which Scheveningen was, and is, a part, did not accept the design. Instead of changing the design Kropholler quit the job. In 1920 C.M. van Moorsel made a new design which was built in 1925-1926. Both Kropholler's and Van Moorsel's parts of the building are in Traditionalistic style.
Although the Delft School movement of Traditionalistic architecture wasn't formed until the 1920's Kropholler's chapel can be regarded as a very early example of the style that became synonomous for the movement. This chapel was Kropholler's first religious work and Kropholler's style for such buildings hardly changed in the next four decades. A typical feature of the chapel is the front, which is made of two parts, one of which is bevelled. In the other part is a sculpture of a pelican feeding its young with its own blood; this sculpture was made by Joseph Mendes da Costa, who made several similar sculptures for some of Kropholler's later churches as well. The chapel itself is a one-aisled brick building. It's covered by a roof on a wooden construction.
Van Moorsel's church illustrates that, even though M.J. Granpré Molière lead the Delft School, it must have been Kropholler who pioneered the style it became known for. The completed church is a three-aisled building with a very wide central aisle and narrow side-aisles. The choir on the outside is hidden from view by other parts of the complex. At its side is a narrow tower with saddle-roof. A difference with Kropholler's work is the use of rectangular windows. Another remarkable feature of the church is the new entrance which had to be positioned diagonally on the nave. due to the surrounding buildings. Van Moorsel did not complete the other tower with the old entrance as started by Kropholler. Kropholler eventually finished this tower himself in 1965 as a gift from the notorious project developer R. Zwolsman.

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