The building was also sited adjacent to a proposed future bridge link across to the southern side of Smith Street, thus had to consider future planning for accommodating a future bridge structure along with forming an appropriate and contextual entrance portal onto the campus.

The brief for the new building was to provide a building which seamlessly integrated with the existing buildings to form a significant glycoscience research precinct facilitating interaction between the various research areas within the institute. The concept of a ‘Community of members’ was encouraged and pursued at all stages of design.

Areas of particular emphasis were established by the Director, Professor Mark von Itzstein, being Glycochemistry, Glycobiology and Glycobiochemistry. The new building, therefore, consolidated the Glycomics institute and provided the necessary impetus for a strong research environment supported by research infrastructure that includes: significant wet research PC2 and PC3 laboratory spaces for chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology; state of the art instrumentation; supporting research animal facilities and appropriate office and meeting spaces for up to 150 academic staff, students and research support staff.  

The Institute for Glycomics is a national and international leader in the field of carbohydrate science.  The Institute for Glycomics uses glycoscience to advance our understanding of the role of carbohydrates in health and disease for the discovery of novel therapeutics for globally significant diseases. Its main business focus concentrates on the following areas: Drug Discovery & Development, Immunology, Inflammatory and Oncology.