When deciding to implement this solution, I compared it to simply sliding complete monomers horizontally across the output glyph. Bonders fill the space where the polymer's last movement would be, and pistons fill the gaps where the earlier movements would be.  

The construction of the polymer ends up taking up the same space as the simple construction, but polymer construction is able to be handled separately from monomer construction, saving time.

I decided to use two pistons for the animismus glyph, since the secondary is cycles.  Work is split up pretty cleanly between the two, allowing a ~50-cycle loop: Arm 1 hands the inputs into Arm 2, Arm 2 constructs them into sets of three, and they split the work of the animismus glyph.

Having the pistons in the empty space of the output glyph also allows me to essentially get one area for free, since half of the access spaces for animismus are inside of the simple construction.

As far as potential for shaving area, there might be possibility for putting more glyphs inside of the simple construction area. A simple one I'm surprised I missed is putting calcification either on critelli or in the extra area on the right side of the output glyph.