Hooker Electrochemical Company Research Office Building G. F. RUG.iR, Hooker Electrochemical Company, Niagara Falls, iV. Y.
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to offices. The library is equipped with open stacks of adHE Hooker Electrochemical Company, Siagara Falls, justable steel shelves on all of the free space of the walls. All Y., has recently finished the construction of a threeother furniture in the library, including card index files, story office building for the use of the Research and Developmagazine rack, dictionary stand, tables, and chairs, is of either ment Department. The need for such a building has long steel or aluminum. been recognized because of crowded conditions in the Main The shape of the buildings has made necessary some variaOffice Building which also housed the Operation and Engition in the size of offices. Five large offices, one on the second neering Departments. It had been desirable, also, to get floor and two on each of the other floors, are normally octhe Development and Research Department staff near the Research Laboratories in order to make for greater efficiency cupied by only one person, but are spacious enough to be used in the department as a whole. for conferences. Each has a permanently installed blackboard which is cleverly concealed by a Venetian blind when X great deal of careful planning was done in connection not in use. Except for the vestibule, the entire first floor is with the architecture and appearance of this building, which is the first of a series of buildings which will extend along taken up with offices. Buffalo Avenue as the company expands and creates the need for them. Both the interior and the exterior are so arLaboratory ranged that additions may be made a t either end and preserve a pleasing architectural appearance. On the ground floor are offices, storage room, heating and The new building has the form of a T-shaped addition to the air-conditioning equipment room, and an excellently equipped Research Laboratory Building, with which it forms an H. The analytical laboratory. The importance of accurate work in new building is of brick and stone construction with segmental a research program is clearly indicated in this laboratory. arch windo& carrying up through two floors and with machicolated cornices. A short flight of stone steps leads from the street into the entrance vestibule on the first floor. The vestibule opens into a corridor from which all offices on this floor and also the stairs leading to the ground and second floors may be reached. All ceilings are finished with an acoustic material to deaden sound. Indirect lighting is used in all offices, while direct lighting is used in the laboratory. Air conditioning is provided the year round. All air ducts, water pipes, and electric conduits are carried in the false ceilings of the corridors. Telephone wiring is concealed in fiber ducts in the floors and connections are made to brass outlets which are located inconspicuously under desks or tables. Floors are of asphalt tile in a two-tone effect. The entire west end of the second floor is taken up with a library, while the balance of this floor is given over HOOKER ELECTROCHEMIC iL C O . RESEARCH .4SD DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTS 649
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IUDUSTRIlL 4 N D ENGISEERISG CHEMISTRY
Probably more thought was put on the planning of the laboratory than any other room in the building. It is 30 x 18 feet and occupies the entire west half of the bar of the H. The tables, hoods, and storage cabinets are constructed of copperbearing, lead-coated steel, finished in aluminum. At the left of the door and at the one end of the room is an electric refrigerator for storage of inflammable liquids, which is also used for general cooling purposes. Beyond this are the tables for balances. A table runs along the full length of the outside wall. For a space of 11feet this table is 30 inches high and the remainder is 36 inches high. The section of the table of lower height was designed for titration work with the operator seated in a comfortable laboratory type of chair. Underneath this table and enclosed behind solid cupboard doors are stock solutions of analytical reagents contained in &gallon bottles. These bottles are connected to the compressed air system, so that the solutions may be forced up glass tubes running through the top of the table and delivering into the tops of burets. An obvious advantage of this arrangement is that all solutions are protected from the light.
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At the far end of the rooin is a sink and drain board unit which is made of one piece of Karcite. Adjoining the sink are two storage cabinets, one with solid doors for chemicals and the other d h glass doors for glassware. The fourth side of the room is taken up with a fume hood and a table for muffle furnaces and electric ovens. The fume hood is divided into two sections, one 4 feet long fitted with a steam bath and the other 8 feet long. Both hoods are vented to the roof of the adjoining building. The center table is of the conventional type with working space on both sides, drawer and cupboard space underneath, and a large sink a t one end. d l 1 tables are provided with adequate numbers of gas, compressed air, electric, steam, and water outlets. All piping to the tables and hoods is concealed beneath them. Receptacles for refuse are out of sight under the sinks and openings to them are provided through the sheet-metal panels. A metal desk and chair and a metal wardrobe storage cabinet are the final items of equipment. The building has now been occupied for some months and has worked out admirably in every respect.
