The building was designed in the Gothic Revival style and was first opened for worship on 1 February 1857.

The committee was granted a plot of land on the corner of Tuam and Oxford terrace from the Government.

[1][2] The original church was designed by the architect Henry John Cridland.

This turned the original building's two halves into the transepts of the now larger church.

The church moved in 1986 from its original site opposite the Christchurch Hospital to its current home in the grounds of Rangi Ruru School.