We completed a six story science building
(Chem/Biochem, Physics, Soil Science) 4 years ago. At
the time I was a technician for Chem/Biochem, now in
EH&S for the campus. I was lucky enough to be
included on the building committee and my opinions
were valued. Some of my thoughts and struggles on
the process:
- Involve the technical staff. They work in the
building, do maintenance on the safety and lab
equipment and know what works.
- We used a lab planner along with the architects
in the initial design which helped, but there is still
a large amount the lab planners do NOT know
about actually working in a lab.
- Beware of the architect and his need for
aesthetics which may value out the occupants needs for
the building. If you get private $ as someone
mentioned below, they will be even more aggressive
about what things look like and not how they
function. Case in point, I fought hard for a large
freight elevator that could be locked while taking
chemicals reagents up and move large pieces of
equipment up floors. This got "engineered" out as the
larger elevator cut into the "lines" the architect
wanted going up the floors in the foyer. There was
nothing about function, this was strictly aesthetic.
- Be wary of over engineering of utilities and
spaces. The lab planner and architect designed a
large room for a specialized deionization system to
feed the building. This seemed way over kill to me
and also something difficult to maintain as a
technician. Another faculty member and I asked for
other institutions that had this DI system installed
and got on the phone to talk about their system and
were quickly told it had been a nightmare to maintain
from the get go. We were able to get this taken out.
Best of luck!
Vivian
Vivian Longacre
Safety
Training Specialist, RSO
Environmental Health
& Safety
Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo,
California
Direct 805.756.6628
Hi All,
Once you're done hashing out all
the building design issues, don't forget about the
construction side of it.
Someone needs to keep an eye on the
lowest bidder who is building it.
We've run into a couple situations
where something was obviously wrong and the guys
doing the work didn't want to even ask about it
because ÔThat's what's on the blueprint.'
(Don't worry, we got them to move
the transformer out from directly in front of a
door)
Also, don't believe them when they
say they've tested something like monitoring
systems.
Make sure equipment and HVAC units
are installed correctly and no shortcuts have been
taken.
-Brady
Perfect companion piece to read. And
you shouldn't have to "fight" for any of this.
Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A.,
Industrial Hygienist
President: Arts, Crafts &
Theater Safety, Inc.
Safety Officer: Local USA829,
IATSE
New York, NY 10012
212-777-0062
•
Appropriately sized spaces
to accommodate students with disabilities
(and service dogs or signers for hearing
impaired students)
•
Be prepared to fight for
drains for your safety showers
•
Ample storage space away
from the benchtops for coats, backpacks,
purses, etc.
•
Generous fume hood/bench
space for each student
•
Do you require
balance/instrument rooms that are separate
from the labs?
•
Think about what you need
in terms of data ports, AV equipment, and
large monitors and their placement within
the rooms
•
A desk up front for your TA
and design the labs so that the TA has a
clear line of sight to all of the
students, if possible
•
Intercom system needed?
•
What do you need for the
prep room and stockroom? Storage systems,
benches, fume hoods, etc.
•
Fire suppression systems -
the project manager will require your full
chemical inventory for this
•
Equipment that will require
special electrical outlets
•
Placement of white
boards/blackboards in the labs
•
Dispensing hoods for
experimental work and also for the haz
waste containers in the labs
Just a few thoughts on a
Friday. Feel free to contact me directly
if you have additional questions. As you
can tell, we went through this a few years
ago to totally renovate some labs on the
Evansdale campus.
Eberly College of Arts and
Sciences
DCHAS Fellow - American
Chemical Society
We're in the
planning process for a new science
building (we're a two-year community
college with a strong STEM reputation
and a very small informal undergrad
research program). Does anyone have
any lessons learned or other
recommendations as we start working
with the architects when it comes to
planning out our chemistry labs?
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