By Sue Denny • Posted April 17, 2026

A chapel at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary’s new campus in Lower Gwynedd, Montgomery County has earned international recognition for the impressive way it breathed new life into sacred objects from the old Overbrook campus.

Immaculate Conception Chapel is one of 12 religious spaces from around the world to win a 2026 Faith & Form International Award for Religious Architecture and Art. Philadelphia-based Partners for Sacred Places announced the winners March 31.

Top entry in the liturgical/interior design category, the chapel was honored for its use of religious furnishings restored and relocated to the seminary’s new campus. Painstaking efforts were made to preserve the history of the former campus wherever possible.

“It was very important to the seminary to have these physical connections and a sense of continuity, despite being in a new location,” architect John Cluver of Voith & MacTavish said. “It’s a credit to the seminary for suggesting this approach and encouraging us to take it as far as we could. They were true design partners in the process.”

Immaculate Conception Chapel is “the heart of the seminary,” said Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez at the Sept. 8, 2024 consecration. Hundreds of clergy and faithful gathered for the blessing and dedication liturgy. The new campus welcomed its first class of seminarians that August.

Located in the new Student Life Center, the chapel is the largest of three on campus with seating for more than 200.

It was singled out for the “impressive” way it incorporates consecrated objects from the historic campus, the jury commented. The interior “respects the heritage and traditional liturgy of the seminary while also seeming bright, fresh, and forward-looking. The chapel’s nave and tabernacle are stunning.”

Partners for Sacred Places founded the annual awards program in 1978 to honor excellence in innovation in architecture, design, and art for religious places. This year’s jury was made up of representatives from the design, preservation, and faith communities. The five-member panel reviewed 75 nominations from nine countries and various faiths.

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary was founded in 1832 in the Philadelphia home of Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick. Early buildings were constructed more than 150 years ago; over time, facilities had become inefficient to operate and costly to maintain.

The seminary sold the Overbrook property to Main Line Health in 2019, later launching a Comprehensive Campaign to rebuild on 15 acres, formerly owned by Gwynedd Mercy University in Lower Gwynedd.

Cluver’s firm has previous experience with religious institutions, highly decorated spaces, and historic materials but this project was unique, he said. “It’s a tribute to the contractor, the builder ( W.S. Cumby) for their willingness to take on this challenge as well.”

Art and artifacts were salvaged, restored, and relocated, including statues, Stations of the Cross, carved wooden pews, and stained-glass windows.

Two reconfigured side altars form a new sacrificial altar, surrounded by and a relocated tabernacle, sanctuary lamp, radiant Holy Spirit laylight, ambo, and faculty stalls.

The holy water font, a 19^th century crucifix donated by the Drexel family, and a shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary found a new home in the narthex.

While treasures from the past honor the 155-year-old seminary’s rich traditions, the new campus is firmly positioned for the future with modernized classrooms, library, and residence halls.

Updated technology and state-of-the-art facilities have transformed the learning and formation experience of seminarians preparing to serve the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the broader Church. Spring enrollment is 139.