Professor W. P. Evans showed significant foresight and persuasive powers in getting the College Board of Governors to invest in a building in 1908 that would be almost adequate to serve the needs of Chemistry for over fifty years.
At the end of World War II student numbers increased substantially, and two temporary buildings in the South Quadrangle were needed to house advanced teaching laboratories.
These were subsequently used as research laboratories in conjunction with the Armory, a grey wooden building located between the gym and the Student Union building.
Three large laboratories for second and third year undergraduates were created in 1960 in the northeast corner of the North Quadrangle, after the School of Engineering was moved to the new Ilam campus.
With the rapidly growing numbers of postgraduate research students, in 1964 additional research laboratories were also established in the old Engineering School.
