REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTS
Design and Construction of Laboratory Buildings I: General Considerations New laboratory design and construction, whether industrial or academic, is a complex subject requiring close cooperation between management, architect, and builder.
De
tailed consideration of a host of factors such as site selection, costs, materials of construc tion, services, furnishings and equipment, health and safety factors, service facilities and the like—all must be considered carefully. planning.
Expected future needs further complicate
Increasing use of radioisotopes presents some unique design problems.
The design and construction of lab oratories is a major undertaking for all those involved. To obtain optimum re sults at the lowest cost requires careful planning and organization. To assist those responsible for plan ning new laboratories, the National Academy of Sciences-National Re search Council's Committee on Design Construction, and Equipment of Lab oratories of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Technology requested a host of experts in all phases of design and construction to summarize their experiences. The results have been incorporated in a book entitled "Lab oratory Planning for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering." Reinhold Pub lishing Corp., 430 Park Ave., New York 22. Ν. Y., has just published the book. It consists of 14 chapters, several of which have major subdivisions, plus hundreds of photographs and draw ings, covering every major aspect of this complex subject. It is avail able at $20.00. The book is a com plete revision of a similar one entitled "Laboratory Design," published a dec ade ago. While this book will not make a re search director or head of a chemistry department in a university an authority on the subject, it will provide them and their associates with many ideas, pit falls which may be encountered, time and money-saving ideas, and will make them much more knowledgeable and thus better equipped to play an impor tant and decisive role in converting a dream for a laboratory into a practical reality. Many of the ideas presented will also be of value to those involved in re modeling older laboratories or expand ing existing ones. This topic is being covered in a twopart article. Part I deals with general considerations applicable to both indus trial and academic ^oratories ; the sec ond is devoted to academic laboratory planning and construction.
Once the need for a laboratory building has been determined and management has given its gen eral approval, w h a t are the steps to be followed? Management, in its decision, m a y set a cost limitation based on avail able funds and state t h a t the best building possible is to be erected within these financial limits; or it ma'y request t h a t a careful study be made to determine the estimated cost of the facilities needed; in m a n y cases, however, it fixes an in adequate budget based on a super ficial study of needs. M a n a g e m e n t then delegates the project to a com mittee, usually composed of three people. T h e authority and respon sibility of the committee must be spelled out carefully and clearly. There are certain essential quali fications for committee members: 1. All should have sufficient standing in the organization to com m a n d respect of other members. 2. One should represent the group which will finally operate the build ing. 3. A third, possibly the chairman, should be able to represent the broad view of m a n a g e m e n t concern ing suitability, economy, esthetics, and amenities. 4. All members must be relieved of other interfering duties. Architect. T h e next step is to se lect an architect who will work with the committee in developing re quirements, selecting a site, and de termining the quality and character of the building. T h e architect can also be helpful in dealing with the m a n y builders who will be offering their services. Selection of an architect is very important. Those who have de
signed similar buildings are logical prospects. Information concerning the architect m a y be obtained from management of firms which have utilized the services of the architect in question in the past. Prospective architectural firms m a y then be considered on the basis of availability, experience, qualifi cations of their key personnel and their engineering consultants, and their ability to keep within a bud get. Those prospective candidates re maining after this screening should be visited for further details. B y this time the list should be reduced to two or three. After appropriate interviews and visits to the site, the architect is selected. Final selec tion will depend on the proposal submitted by this architect. His fee should be considered in terms of the total cost of the project and on his skill and experience in keeping costs down. I t is not uncommon and in some cases it m a y be desirable to retain an architect who lacks experience in the field of laboratory design. I n such cases the architect will secure the services of experienced engineer ing consultants. T h e architect is still responsible for the project. T h e so-called design-construction package which involves the pur chase of design and construction of the whole building for a fixed sum has proved to be practical in m a n y cases for warehouses and simple factory buildings, but not for com plicated buildings like laboratories. The author of the introductory chapter has prepared a check list of questions which is quite detailed and helpful in determining require ments for selecting the site and VOL. 34, NO. 10, SEPTEMBER 1962 · 2 5
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S'S
REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS
Reference Sheets on Selectacel ® ION EXCHANGE CELLULOSES for use in chromatographic columns New Selectacel Ion Exchange Cellu loses have remarkable properties when used with ionic and colloidal materials of high molecular weight. Such applications
include—
•
ENZYMES
·
LIPIDS
•
PROTEINS
·
NUCLEIC
•
HORMONES
A C I D S
These materials produce separations that far exceed what usually can be accomplished alone by ion exchange resins, chromatography, electrochromatography, or electrophoresis. There a r e several kinds o f Selectacel Ion Exchange Celluloses:
ANION EXCHANGERS Type DEAE (Oietiwt-
aminoefhyl Cellule»)
Grade Standard 20 40
Capacity «"·
Separation and purification of proteins, peptides, enzymes, hormones and re lated materials. Type ECTEOLA
Grade Standard
Capacity me '. ^'fljggpjilffj·· dustrial equipment should be used. NiobiumSjS* ,.·· ·-'·'"'':>'•:-'i'·'S ^ S | i | K * Typical cases are cited as examples ftut&#»|iM JIÏ?* ·'*,',.:' MercBïB§3C# using both commercial and industrial t y p e equipment. Appropriate indicating and reC ^ i i i m ^ w i ' • yi·· ''::ΐ•*v^têëkm^SS^-· cording equipment are necessary to SttôatHim:.j9ô'.' . · '"'".,
