THE NEW CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII' LEONORA NEUFFER BILGER and EARL MATTHIAS -BILGER University of Hawaii, Honolulu, T. H lahorat,ories. Of significant service were the Iteport of the iYat,ional Research Committee on Construrtion and Equipment of Chemical Laboratories2 and scores of articles published in t,he rhemical journals on near Iahorat,ories. Immediately preceding the preparation of the final plans t,he authors of this paper made an eight,-month tour of maiuland TTnit,ed States and investigated personally some twent,y-five modern chemical laboratories. Confwe~~res were hcld with persons who had partiripat,ed in the planning of these huildings and mere familiar with their operation and f~mrtioningand with their adequacies and shortromings. I t was particularly noted t,hat in many instanres where dissatisfaction existed with regard to certain features of mmpleted buildings, explanations offered were, first (quoting), "Xo one from t,he chemistry depart,ment had time t o devote to the development of det,ailed plans or t o Front V t e w a5 the Lobaratrry follow through during the const,ntction period," and, serond (quoting), "The architects were autocratic and half a r e ~ ~ t u rago y that i~tt,repidexperimen1;er seemed more interested in final impression and appearand daunt,less investigator, J.ouis Past,eur, e~~visionnd t,he close relationship 1)et\we11t,he srient,ifir lahoratory ance than in the functioning of the huilding a s a chemiand human welfare whet1 he wrote: "J,ahoratories are cal lahorat,ory." These stat em nit,^ and others of simit,he temples of t,he future, t,emples of well-heing and of lar rharact,er are not without f o r d a t i o n and should happiness. There it is t,hat. humanity grows greater, he given due ronsideration. Building in Hawaii has advantages which locations stronger, hetker." Chcmists to whose lot it falls t,o of less gentle and more varied climate cannot provide. design univeruit,y laboratories generally pursue their There are no heat,ing systems required and educational tasks in the spirit of Pasteur, feeling the human purpose of their endeavor rather t,han visnalising st,rurt,ures. huildings are ventilat,ed by ext,ensive areas of open Buildings are good o~llywhen t,hey make possihle high windows. The "lanai"3 t,ype of structure, particularly st,audards of training, provide an environment that suit,ed to t,ropical regions, is favored for its openness arouses the ent,husiasm of Ixge numhers of stude~~t,sand accessihility. In the new chemistry huilding all and research workers, a t ~ drreate an atmosphere dense rooms and laborat,ories open directly onto wide, ceilinged verandas. These horder upon sparious landscaped with scientific rurionit,y. In 1941 the Ai.umni A f a g a z i n ~of the Univcrsit,y of rourt,s where there are many meters of "Mark Hopki~is" Hawaii carried t,he headlinc, "The Universit,~needs benches for outdoor study. There are no interior cor$200,000 for a rhemistry building." In 1948 t,he rcgis- ridors and consequently lighting is excellent t,hrought,rat,ions in chemist,ry courses reached a peak of l I00 out the huilding. The clement weather has also made in a university of 3800 regular st,ndents. 111 1951 the possible the inclusion of a completely equipped out,door depart,ment moved int,o a new, three-st,ory, reinforred rescarch lahorat,ory on the t,hird floor. In t,he following only t,hose features of the laboratory conrrete lahorat,ory wit,h a Roor area of 70,340 square will he referred to which have proved to be of exceptional feet,, execut,ed a t a rost of over $1,250,000. value and advant,age in the over-all operation of the The building was ronst,nwt,ed aft,er t,en years of observation, st,udy, consultat~ion, and planning and plant and in the hest interest,^ of tearhing and research. two years of first,-hand acquaint,anre wit,h European All auditoriums and classrooms are equipped with lert,ure demonstration tahles. An extensive roof area, ronesponding t,o a fourth floor, carries the still room,
OVER
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Ptmented before t,he Division of Chemical Edurntior~at the 124th Meeting of the Amrriosn Chemical Sorict,y, Chicago, September, 1953, hy Profexsot. IClbr~~t G. Smith. to whom t h r aut,hors extend their thmks.
' T h e Chemiral Foundation, Inr., New York, 1930. Hnnniian word lor veranda.
JUNE. 1954
auditoriums, i~;d fifteen units, k h oi which ho&s motors and exhausts for from three t o six fume hoods. Provision for t,he efficient handling of stock is fundamentally important. Too little attention is paid, as a rule, to this phase of the operation of chemical laboratories. In consequence, this basic requirement of good laboratory practice becomes disorganized and inado quate. Bad management and indifferent treatment of stock result in waste of time and money, and lead t,o discouragement and loss of interest on the part of students and faculty. On the main floor of the new lahoratory in Hawaii is a well-lighted storage st,orkroom with an area of 3531 square feet, contiguous with a spacious unpacking room which opens onto an ext,erior unloading platform of 230 square feet and a trucking yard of 3812 square feet. Within this storage room are concrete va&, a rombustihles room, a& separate rooms for storage of inorganic and organic chemicals. A long, elevated, concrete platform is provided for carhoys of acids. Directly above the storage stockroom, on the second floor and reached by a modern elevator, is the central dispensing stockroom, area 2112 square feet, which contains a separate room for fine instruments, a weighing room, a preparation room, and an office. This dispensing stockroom is located on the same floor as are t,he two largest student laboratories, for general inorganic and organic chemistry. Next door is a firstaid room under the general supervision of the Chemical %ores Technician. Each student laboratory has its own preparation room, sperial equipment room, and balance room. The building is provided wit,h 17 service rooms t o which faculty and graduate research students have access. These include a shop, photographic rooms, a room adjoining the physical chemistry lahoratory that may he darkened for use of optical equipment, a sperial room for polarimet,ry and saccharimetry, a ronstant, temperat,ure room, refrigeration and cold storage rooms. a room for radiation chemistrv to he de., (still , velopLd), a tank storage room, a transformer vaull, projection room, glass-hloming room, grinding room, furnace room, and ronferenae and seminar rooms with attached kitchenette. A long concrete ramp connerts t,he tank storage room to the two lcrture auditoriums, ~vherebymoving of gas rylinders on rart,s is farilitated. A much-favored feature is a graduate assist,ant,s' workroom in which eaoh assistant is providcd x i t h a desk and a set, of shelves and where it is required t,hat all l~ot,ebookand paper marhing be done. The room is utilized by graduate assistants only. A modern electrical system distributing dirert and alternating current t o all parts of the building, provided by t,he Standard Electric Time Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, has proved to be most adequate. I t includes a centrally located main switchboard panel and four suh-panels that are mount,ed in the physical
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Landscaped Court between W i n g s
chemistry, quant,itat,ive analysis, agricultural rhemistry, and synthetic organiv lahoratories. All electrical ronduit,~and piping are readily accessihle hy way of removable ceiling and wall panels, a centralized t,hrce-story pipe chase, and an open hasement area for piping. Gas, wat,er, distilled water, compressed air, and electrical pipelines are painted in identifying colors throughout the building. Chrome-plated plumbing fixtures were provided by Ikwaunee Manufact,uring Company, Adrian, Michigan. Fixtures in open lahorat,ories are satisfactorily resistant. Those within fume hoods have been coated with "Halts-Rust" (Short Oil), a produrt of Steelcote Manufacturing Company, St. Louis. Because of t,he diffirukies iisually present,ed by fume hood systems, sperial ment,ion should be made of t,he hoods in t,he University of Hawaii laboratory and the excellent service they provide. Fifty-four separate exhaust systems, eaoh consisting of an acid-resistant cent,rifugal fan installed in a penthouse on the roof and connert,ed to its respective fume hood by "Ceramir-
Roof A ~ a aShowing Exhaust Systems for Hoods
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weld" arnessories (Pacific Clay Produrts Company, San Francisco), serve 54 separate fume hoods. Each fan motor is provided wit,h two switrhes, one at the mot,or and one at the hood being served. Hoods are rormt,ructed of arid-resistant stone, an asbestos-impregnat,ed produrt of numerous manufacturers.
Side View of the Laboratory
Laboratories follow the usual pat,tern of desk arrangcment,, wit,h drawer and cabinet and special shelving for buret,s and condensers. Student tahle tops, which are of heavy birch wood, and roncret,e service tables are surfaced with "Gloss Engine Enamel" made by R. N. Nason and Company, New York. The leadlined sinks are of "Corrosiron" provided by t,he Pwifie Foundry Company, Ran Francisco. An objectionable feat,ure of many chemical lahora-
tories, particularly those used by large freshman classes, is that students are required t o walk long distances many times in a laboratory period to secure chemicals from inconveniently located shelves. I n this laborat,ory dispensing tables for the chemicals-of-the-week, each 2.5 by 12 feet, partitioned lengthwise into two sect,ions and provided with cork rollers and torsion halances, are located through the center aisle of the laboratory, where regular student desks are recessed to provide ample room for all these tables. Distances traveled are short, there is no searching among many bottles on shelves, balances are near the supplies, and supervision and training in handling chemicals are made feasible. A highly important consideration in connection with laborat,ory building is the matter of keys and their control. In the dispensing stockroom there is a builtin key cabinet with five panels carrying keys for about 2800 laboratory lockers. This cabinet of laboratory desk keys is in charge of one individual, who provides for loss or misplacement of keys. The locking and keying of the building itself is a. major problem and should under no circumstances be left to the contractor. I n the present case, after the contractor present,ed his uninformed plan, the department chairman devoted over 60 hours of study to the matter wit,h the result that not a single inadequacy has been encountered since the building was occupied. (Let it he further seriously advised that Departments of Public Works, contractors, and inspectors on both sides of the project are all fallible and can be substantially assisted in carrying out the specifications of the architect by the devoted alertness, persist,. ent checking, and unending watchfulness of those who have participated with the architect in the original planning and who will ultimately use the building.) The spacious main entrance and foyer of the new lahoratory, constructed of cast stone, provides glassedin cabinets for rotating exhibits. Just within the entrance is the department business office, which may also be entered by the adjoining offices and laboratory of the Chairman. Stone carvings present selected names of great chemists and quotations setting forth the basic ideas of science in general and chemistry in oartioular. On the front face of the building - are carvings depicting six significant stages in the development of chemistry since 1,avoisier1stime, namely, Lavoisier's famous apparatus, Dalton's atoms and molecules, Berzelius' balance, KekulB's space formula for benzene, Mendeleev's periodic table, and Lewis' electronic atomic models. Widely known artists have adorned the outdoor "lanai" walls with magnifirent frescoes depicting in Hawaiian tradition the four elements of the ancient Greeks, earth, air, fire, and water.
