The Nurses’ Memorial Chapel was dedicated as a memorial to New Zealand Nurses who died in WWI and the influenza pandemic which followed in 1918. It is significant as the only memorial chapel in NZ commemorating women who died in war or the pandemic, and is likely to be the only purpose-built memorial chapel in the world commemorating nurses who died in the Great War. It was also New Zealand’s first hospital chapel. As well as being a general memorial to nurses, the building holds a number of individual memorials to local, national and internationally known medical names. It also provided hospital patients and staff a place for spiritual contemplation as well as a place for baptisms, weddings, funerals and regular service.
The late Gothic Revival chapel was designed and supervised free of charge by prominent Christchurch architect John Goddard Collins in 1927. Construction was undertaken by Williamson Construction; William Williamson described it as the 'finest building he ever built'. The interior was very much inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, incorporating significant sculptural elements and the vivid contrast of extensive timberwork and an Oamaru stone chancel arch. The oak carving in the sanctuary was mostly executed by Frederick Gurnsey and his apprentice Jake Vivian. An influential and gifted sculptor, many of Gurnsey's works can be found around Christchurch and feature in the Christchurch Cathedral and Bridge of Remembrance. There are nine stained glass windows - four by Veronica Whall, a prominent English stained glass artist, three thought to be by The Glass House in London, and three are from the former St Mary's Anglican Church in Merivale.
Nearby in Hagley Park is the Bandsmen's Memorial Rotunda, also the first of its kind in New Zealand. This memorial to bandsmen who died in WW1 is often seen as a 'brother' site to the Nurses Memorial Chapel.