The building is respectful of its adjacent buildings and landscape while having its own unique presence and identity.

The project was divided into 2 phases with the Charles Institute being constructed first and the SBI being built two years later. The 4,407m2 Charles Institute is a 4 storey concrete framed structure with stone cladding and curtain walling. The entrance comprises a delicate four storey glazed atrium, which also accommodates the primary vertical circulation for the building. The interior of the building comprises offices, write-up areas, a 60 person seminar room, post graduate research laboratories, tissue culture rooms, a highly sensitive vibration controlled image analysis facilities and other laboratory support space. The building is connected via a link bridge to the UCD Conway Institute and the UCD Health Sciences Centre creating a unique health & bio-medical sciences complex with the Charles Institute at its heart.

The SBI extension to the rear of the Charles Institute followed on two years later and accommodates Systems Biology Ireland (SBI). It is a 1,400m2 4 storey extension consisting of research laboratories with associated support and ancillary accommodation.