Modern scientific environments depend on interdisciplinary exchange. As entities grow, they need to stay connected so researchers can be continually inspired and challenged through collaboration with their peers. The second phase of building for the University of Wisconsin's Biochemistry Department was designed to unite its educational community, made up of undergraduates, graduate students, and staff from the college of agricultural and life sciences and the medical school.

This project paves the way for the future while preserving the past. The new 250,000-square-foot teaching and research building preserves the character of the campus by utilizing the facades of several historic buildings, while incorporating many principles of sustainable design. The new biochemistry complex includes laboratories for 20 research groups, teaching auditoria, classrooms, biochemistry instructional labs, administrative space, a variety of specialized equipment and support facilities, and offices for the national nuclear magnetic resonance structural database initiative.