The University of Sydney boasts one of the leading schools of physics in the southern hemisphere. Research spans from subatomic quantum systems to astrophysics on a galactic scale. However, the school’s heritage listed home was inhibiting progress, so a project was conceived for a brand new facility to the rear housing cleanrooms, laboratories, offices, collaboration and teaching spaces. The ensuing international competition produced a collaboration between UK and Sydney based design teams.

 

The team faced a steeply sloping site hemmed in on all sides: flanked by two substantial fig trees, the protected physics building, a planned residential college to the rear and a strategic view above. An elegant solution collects research around a courtyard conceived as an outdoor meeting room and arranges teaching on either side of an atrium with angular solar protective roof. Delicate walkways connect old and new with a café at the primary link between, opening onto the shaded courtyard.

 

Discrete access to the teaching zone steers student footfall away from sensitive research spaces. The lower experimental level is submerged into the slope, compressing the new volume and shielding the cleanrooms and electron microscopes from vibration and electromagnetic interference.

 

The architecture both respects its historic context and reflects the state-of-the-art research. A contemporary envelope of zinc, corten steel, pre-cast concrete and glass subtly mirrors the hues of the neighbouring building. The north-facing courtyard façade is screened from the harsh Australian sun by a projecting metal lattice that is colour treated to invoke the periodic table, acting as an allegory for the science within.