Breuer’s office began working on the comprehensive plan for Saint John’s Abbey and University Complex in May of 1953. Between 1967 and 1968, Breuer and his associate Robert Gatje designed a five building complex known as the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research. The architects set the low, flat-roofed rectangular buildings into a hillside facing the Little Watab Lake. The buildings featured horizontal expanses of glazing set into brick walls and raised upon fieldstone bases. Breuer and Gatje placed building A at the center of the composition. It contained offices and bedrooms on either side of a chapel and living room with a freestanding fireplace. Building B was located directly behind building A but further away from the shoreline. Symmetrical living areas mirrored each other along a central axis. Both sides contained numerous bedrooms, a study and a large living/dining area. Buildings C and D flanked building A. They consisted of smaller residential pavilions separated by stone terraces but linked visually by low, stone walls. Building E, located behind building B, was a simple rectangle of three, brick walls. It’s fourth wall featured three glass doors.