This is the first phase of a project to replace facilities nearing the end of their useful life. The building houses the institute's office functions and laboratories that were previously in several buildings. The facility's environment is expected to encourage the emergence of new research ideas. It has two below-ground and four above-ground levels, all with laboratories, and a communication space called Knowledge Street that faces the adjoining main road. With no internal columns, the laboratories have a multi-purpose balcony used for equipment, ducting and emergency access, and were designed to maximize flexibility in terms of structure and layout. Knowledge Street is an open, six-level atrium, functioning as an interaction space, a confluence of users' flow lines, and the core of this next-generation workplace based on analysis of researchers' activities. The facade provides a fresh view from the road.