The chapel borrows its name from the Carmelite nun, affectionately known the ‘Little Flower’ who lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France.

Thérèse developed a simple and humble approach to spiritual life called “The Little Way” – a path to holiness focused on performing small, ordinary acts with great love.

“The Little Way” is a reflection on the joy of smallness. It’s not about grand gestures, but performing small, ordinary acts with great care and attention to detail.

The chapel is 17m2.

It’s orientated towards Ripapa Island in the Lyttelton Harbour, which used to be a jail housing some of Aotearoa’s most celebrated Māori prophets.

The door is a play on the holy trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Red polycarbonate was chosen for its multitude of religious and spiritual connotations.

It is clad in a custom B/OS natural anodized aluminum weatherboard. Its curvature is soft and feminine befitting its namesake.

The interior is lined with native Rimu extracted from a river on the south-west coast of the South Island. It had been in a river for 600 years, and before that was alive for over 1000 years. There’s something quite beautiful about a tree that came to fruition a few hundred years after Jesus Christ walked the planet.

Jesus and the crucifix were carved by an accomplished Māori carver, Johnny Hauraki, out of heart kauri.

The chapel is a gift to the people of Christchurch from the O’Sullivan Family.