Building Highlight - WK Hancock Building

The WK Hancock Building consists of two wings, known as the West Wing / Life Sciences Building and East Wing.

The Life Sciences Building / Hancock West Wing was designed by O’Mahony, Neville & Morgan in 1973 and constructed by Citra Construction in 1975. It was built to accommodate the Life Sciences Library (now known as the WK Hancock Library) and the Centre for Resource and Environmental Science (CRES).

The CRES was founded in 1973 with Professor Frank Fenner as its Director. It was designed as a multidisciplinary institution to carry out research and training to ensure the natural resources of Australia are husbanded, developed and conserved.

In 1982 the building was renamed the JG Crawford Building and in 1985 GE Shaw conducted extensions to the basement.

In 1986 it was renamed the WK Hancock Building, after Sir William Keith Hancock. Hancock was the first director of the Research School of Social Sciences (1957-61) and Professor of History (1957-65) at the ANU. He was also very active in the formation of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, based at the ANU, and served as Chairman (1959-65).  

In 1995 the 5th floor extension was completed by Huckstepp Pty Ltd from a design by Collard, Clarke & Jackson. In 1999 the east wing was designed by May and Russell Architects, and constructed by Project Coordination. This extension was officially opened by Emeritus Professor Peter Baume on 6 April 2001.

References 

Australian National University n.d., Acton Campus site inventory, <https://services.anu.edu.au/files/inventory/43%252C122.-hancock-library-final_0.pdf> 

Davidson, J 2007, Hancock, Sir William Keith, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, <https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hancock-sir-william-keith-460>