The faculty at the University of Alberta envisioned adding a world-class, interdisciplinary science facility to its campus, including an educational and research center that addresses complex scientific questions, and a knowledge "hub" for the scientific, business, and community leaders of the future. The Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science allows the university to realize several goals; provide state-of-the-art instructional facilities, accommodate strategic university growth in the sciences, cultivate an interdisciplinary research environment, and provide a life-work experience that will aid in the recruitment and retention of faculty from around the world.

Classrooms and laboratory functions will serve approximately 3,000 students and 1,000 faculty/staff from six disciplines. The flexibility to adapt to evolving scientific initiatives requires both highly specialized laboratory facilities, and the ability to reconfigure research spaces cost-effectively. Lower floors provide 2,200 lecture theater seats, accommodating thousands of students on a daily basis. This activity, and the public nature of the main level, play a key role in the recovery and redevelopment of the original campus quadrangle, and re-establish the identity for the university's science faculty.