The instrument, built between 1979 and 1981 by Detlef Kleuker of Bielefeld-Brackwede based on a specification designed by Jean Guillou, quickly attracted a great deal of attention due to its numerous special features, not least because of its striking façade design based on plans by French architect Jean Marol, who had designed the Notre-Dame des Neiges church in L'Alpe d'Huez and the case (in the shape of a hand) for the Kleuker organ there just a few years earlier.
Prior to the planning, experts from the University of Brussels carried out acoustic measurements of the huge church interior (98 metres long with a volume of 22,000 cubic metres), which was built between 1939 and 1949.
In his design, Jean Marol depicted two birds during their courtship ritual to commemorate the name of the district: the left one is made of ash, the right one of mahogany, two contrasting wood tones. The organ is at ground level so that it does not obscure the rose window in honour of Notre-Dame de Grâce. The horizontal trumpets (en chamade) give this ensemble a special touch, both visually and acoustically.
The organ case is designed to be very open at the front and sound-permeable, and the individual windchests are positioned at a height that allows for optimal sound development in the room.
The voicing emphasises the maximum individuality of the individual registers (personalities) rather than the best possible blending capability.
Designed at the end of the 1970s, the Kleuker organ can be described as a pioneering masterpiece of organ building for its time and is the result of a bold and congenial collaboration between Jean Guillou and Detlef Kleuker.