Top Projects of 2025: Missionaries of the Word New Convent

Located on an 80-acre parcel in Egg Harbor, the 28,954-square-foot Gloria Dei Motherhouse serves as home to the Missionaries of the Word, a community of Catholic Sisters in the Green Bay Diocese. The $21 million project, built entirely with privately donated funds, presented significant technical challenges, most notably the chapel’s intricate barrel ceiling featuring multi-dimensional curves with half and quarter barrel transitions.

The team employed an Armstrong Grid Ceiling System to achieve the required radii within the curved, vaulted space, while custom-cut stone components were precisely fabricated for the chapel’s arches, archways and dome. The entire structure was built using cement masonry units with a brick veneer facade.

The project distinguished itself through an extraordinary working environment shaped by the Sisters’ daily presence on site. Mother Mary Catherine established clear conduct expectations while personally connecting with each crew member, and the Sisters delivered meals, opened meetings with prayer and placed saints’ medallions into the foundation concrete. Workers consistently noted they had never experienced a job site like it.

Designed for long-term, low-maintenance use, the facility houses up to 30 Sisters and supports formation, ministry and global mission work, ensuring its impact will extend far beyond Egg Harbor for decades to come.

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