Built by the brothers of the Society of Mary, the chapel is named after the Pacific Island of Futuna on which the missionary Peter Chanel, to whom the project is dedicated, was martyred in 1841.

[8] The steeply pitched roof forms also allude to the entry porch of the wharenui, with its prominent sweeping barge boards (maihi).

Care is taken to clearly express the junctions of different materials by negative detailing and the projection of beams past their point of support.

The use of diagonal symmetry, gridded planning and modular dimensions all relate the building to both high modernism and classical architecture.

The extensive use of timber for the roof, with exposed sarking, struts and rafters is typical of architect-designed New Zealand houses of the 60s and 70s that delight in the virtuostic display of carpentry work.

A book about the building called ‘Voices of Silence (New Zealand’s Chapel of Futuna)' [9] was published by Victoria University Press 1987.

Subsequently, the buildings surrounding the chapel were removed and replaced with medium-density housing units designed by Hunt Davies Tennent Ltd.

While tarnished, most of the fixtures and fittings remain in good condition, but Jim Allen's centrepiece wooden sculpture of the Crucifixion disappeared.

[11][12] Concern about the building's future came from many quarters, leading to the formation of the Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust[13] spearheaded by Simon Mclellan.