[3] Named after experimental physicist Patrick Blackett who established a laboratory at the college,[4] the building is located on the corner of Prince Consort Road and Queen's Gate, Kensington.

As part of the formation of Imperial, the Royal College was moved into a new building at South Kensington in 1906, which also housed the Chemistry Department.

[7][8] In 2019, it was announced that the laboratory would be constructing a magnetometer instrument for the European Space Agency Solar Orbiter in a mission to study the Sun.

All students graduating with an undergraduate degree from the department are also awarded the Associateship of the Royal College of Science, ARCS.

[15][16] All students graduating with any of the postgraduate degrees (MSc, MRes, PhD) are also awarded the Diploma of Imperial College, DIC.