[1] It is cruciform in plan with "apsidal east and west ends," and has externally exposed timber framing with Thatcher later stopped deploying in his church designs.

[1][3][4] It is the earliest surviving example of a Selwyn Church, which are notable for their "steeply pitched roofs, overhanging eaves, early English fenestration and carefully calculated proportions.

"[1] The belfry, designed by Archdeacon Philip Walsh, was added in the early 1870s under John Kinder while he was warden of the college.

[1][6] This extension was undertaken by architects Patterson, Lewis & Sutcliffe, and on the north side, an additional vestry was added.

[6] Media related to St John's College Chapel, Auckland at Wikimedia Commons