Rānui Apartments

Client | Bone Marrow Cancer Trust

Type | Architecture, Documentation

SECTOR | Health, residential

STATUS | Complete (2024)

LOCATION | Christchurch, NZ

height | 14.85m, 4 Storeys

SCALE | GFA: 5,197 SQM, sItE: 3,537 sqm, 42 apartments

COST | $18.3 M

Photography | Brendan Holt

A modular solution with a deeply human purpose

It’s not often a building brings you to tears. But Rānui Apartments has done that more than once.

Designed for the Bone Marrow Cancer Trust, this project expands the work of Rānui House, offering 43 new apartments for patients and families travelling to Christchurch for lifesaving treatment. It’s a place to stay and exhale, just across the road from the hospital.

The brief wasn’t simple: deliver fully self-contained homes, communal spaces, gardens, parking, and admin areas. Do it within a tight budget, and make it feel generous. We responded with a modular design of just three apartment types, repeated with precision to stretch every dollar without compromising on quality or warmth.

“We knew not everyone using this building would be in good health. That shaped everything,” says Matthew Charles, Director at Plus. “We went well beyond code to make it accessible, comfortable, and calming.”

The four-storey, L-shaped building is constructed from precast concrete. It’s efficient, cost-effective, and architectural in its own right. Timber fins and pale blue façades soften the structure. That colour wasn’t incidental. Research shows soft blue tones promote calm and support wellbeing, which the Trust felt strongly about.

“Working with Plus on Rānui Apartments has been incredibly rewarding,” says Mandy Kennedy, CEO of the Bone Marrow Cancer Trust. “We gave them a pretty big challenge, but boy, have they delivered. The result is outstanding: functional, beautiful, and exactly what we hoped for — a warm, supportive home away from home.”

Since opening in late 2024, Rānui Apartments has already welcomed 327 patients and families. Together, they’ve spent 1,951 nights in a place designed to feel like home.