Molecular Life Sciences Building

Sir Gustav Nossal, distinguished scientist and Australian of the Year officially opened the Molecular Life Sciences Building on 12 October 2000.   Built at a cost of $18 million the new building brought together for the first time (in Australia, and possibly the world) the disciplines of biochemistry, genetics, microbiology and immunology.  

Its revolutionary design is a far cry from the out dated and cramped accommodation provided by the R.A. Fisher Laboratories (which it replaced and which had to be demolished to make way for this new building).  Departing from traditional design with laboratories grouped along either side of a corridor built around a service core, the Molecular Life Sciences Building laboratories are directly connected to the service core.  This flexible design allows for the removal of walls so rooms can be split or merged as changing needs necessitate.  

Of significance is the fact that the demolition of the R.A. Fisher Laboratories restored Walter Bagot’s vision for a grand boulevard from Frome Road to the entrance of the Barr Smith Library.

Taken from University of Adelaide Archives Infrmation Sheet No.25.  Profile image taken by Dr. Chris Wong, Lecturer @ School of Biological Sciences, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biolgoy, 2015