University of Wollongong
Wollongong, Australia
- Sydney Design Awards (2019)


Opened in May 2021, the Paul Welling Building at the University of Wollongong in Australia is home to the Molecular Horizons Research Institute, a biomedical research facility that is part of the university's science and medical centre. It houses highly sensitive microscopes and equipment worth 25 million US dollars in a 6,900 square metre space. Among them is a rare, high-performance, ultra-high-resolution cryo-electron microscope for 3D characterisation of biological samples.
Due to the high demands of the equipment, every design element of the building had to be carefully thought out by the architects to create a completely vibration-free environment. The north wing consists of a linear complex perched on oversized wooden columns. This block rests on the crystalline cubes of the ground floor, which house special equipment. They are visible from the various pedestrian walkways and from the campus and are intended to emphasise the importance of the building.
The glass cubes made of low-iron, specially enamelled LAMBERTS LINIT®EcoGlass profiled glass give the building its special touch.







