The programme for the chemistry building consists of four teaching laboratories, two lecture theatres, offices, a library and workshops.

The building is part of a programme of expansion within the park-like grounds of the original 19th Century college.

The site slopes steeply and the building is planned with the main entrance off a pedestrian mall at the upper end and a service entrance off a service road at the lower end.

The accommodation is divided into two identical complexes, one overlapping the other and both sharing a service core. In each complex, two sky-lit teaching laboratories occupy a central position at ground level and are ringed and bridged by research laboratories and offices on the second floor to form a single academic unit. The library and lecture theatres are directly related to the entrance lobby.

Continuous loggias, following the slope of the ground, form a covered walk along both sides of the building and mediate between the laboratories and the natural surroundings.

The structure consists of a reinforced concrete frame, clad with aluminium and glass curtain walling. Services to the laboratories are integrated in a matrix of split beams and columns.

(design : Colquhoun + Miller)