By the mid 1960s it was clear that the Department of Defence needed more space than was available at the Russell Offices site, and a search for a suitable location that could house thousands of personnel began.

[2] The site's location adjacent to the airport meant that Defence had to accept a long low building rather than the preferred high-rise option.

It was built during the second decade of the expansion of Canberra under the National Capital Development Commission, an authority that oversaw the construction of very large office complexes and other buildings in the 1970s that are amongst the most dramatic examples of the Brutalist style in Australia, buildings that displayed the bold sculptural and structural possibilities of concrete.

These include John Andrew's Cameron Offices, Belconnen, 1970-76 (partly demolished), and his Callam Offices in Woden (1977–81), the Canberra School of Music by Daryl Jackson and Evan Walker (1970–76), the Edmund Barton Building by Harry Seidler (1970–74), and the High Court (1975-1980) and the National Gallery of Australia (1973-1982) both by Edwards Madigan Torzillo & Briggs.

[8] The building is accessed from Northcott Drive, which passes the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Royal Military College, Duntroon to the south then on to the Russell Offices.

The last Node is triangular in the opposite direction to the others, as part of the original concept that further sections would have bent back towards the hill, creating an S shape.

[10] This finish was achieved by placing vertical timber rods in the formwork, resulting in smooth semi-circular grooves 50mm deep and protruding nibs, which were then hammered every 100mm vertically, resulting in a "random but consistent pattern [that] is a remarkably successful marriage of an ancient building material and patient handiwork".