The National Laboratory for New Materials Research and Development a 170,000 square meter “campus” which includes Laboratories, Office, Residential, Residential Amenities and a Conference Center. The purpose of this project is to represent the new priorities of China in scientific research with a focus on the issues of climate change. The design of flexible and pragmatic laboratories with robust infrastructure is planned as a campus of courtyards similar to the traditional courtyard palaces, temples and homes with the intent of encouraging both collaboration and engagement as well as meditation and contemplation. The language of the complex speaks to the dual pursuits of knowledge coming from the study of nature, the earth and theoretical abstract proposition, the sky or heavens. Together these approaches represent the scientific process.