The church was built in 1925 and designed by the architects Leo and Jan van der Laan in an expressionistic style related to the New Hague School.

In 1934 the nearby Assumption of Mary Church in Leiden was closed and merged with the St. Joseph.

[1] The nave is relatively wide with the purpose to give al participants a clear view on the altar.

The narrow aisles show stations of the Cross painted in 1943 by Wijnand Geraedts which also include an extra scene with the Ascension of Jesus.

[2] The apse is dominated by a fresco painted in 1931 by Alex Asperslagh in Art Nouveau style, depicting the Trinity.