Laboratory furniture - your flexible friend

How do you keep the laboratories of the UK’s largest science project current for at least 30 years? The key is flexibility writes Laurence Duffell

What’s the first laboratory you remember? Mine was presided over by an eccentric science teacher, full of wonderfully angular and unusual-looking equipment, row upon row of robustly constructed wooden worktops and cabinets and I breathed air tainted with the faintly exotic smell of chemical experimentation. It cast an indelible impression on me, as I’m sure yours did too.

Thinking back to those school days, I find it remarkable that much of the furniture design, and in some cases, even the furniture itself in laboratories today has remained the same. True, the choice of material may, indeed, be plastic and not wood, but the permanent, fixed structure still rules OK. 

At the same time, it’s remarkable to see how much the ways in which laboratories are used have changed and how much they continue to evolve. For example, rarely today are laboratories dedicated solely to one specific research project or set of experiments. Instead, the trend is towards a multi-functional approach, with laboratories - often located in purpose built science parks - geared towards the needs of short-term tenants. As a result, the life cycle of the modern laboratory is much shorter than it used to be, and the speed of reconfiguration required to adapt successfully to the needs of new regimes, approaches and practices is proving increasingly important. This rapid pace of change and scientific innovation is beginning to impact upon the way laboratories are designed.

In this modern environment, a modular approach is a major advantage. Rather than fixed furniture we are talking “ergonomic workstations” which can be easily and quickly modified to suit the precise requirements of any lab process. 

In recent years, the workstation model has evolved to encompass worktables and benches, storage cabinet and drawer units, manual transfer conveyors, FiFo racking, lighting, seating and a huge array of application-specific accessories. All of these components can now be comfortably integrated into an efficient, flexible and holistic infrastructure.

This modular concept brings acknowledged benefits to lab efficiency and comfort. For a start, it ensures that the research process dictates the layout of the area – a far better solution than the alternative; trying to modify existing fixed benching which will inevitably compromise lab efficiency. The modular approach also represents a much more sensible longer term investment. It eliminates the risk of workstation redundancy and high additional capital investment costs when changes in the process occur, demands within the facility alter or new tenants move in. In this modern, modular world, a workstation used for, say, a life sciences project today could easily be adjusted for fission research tomorrow, or equally become a test and inspection station the day after. 

At the same time, all manually handled items (eg tools, IT equipment, documentation, components, workpieces, etc) can be positioned and re-positioned for easy access, demanding minimal effort when in use. Everyone has a different muscular-skeletal makeup (longer or shorter reach, different shoulder-elbow lengths, different spine-to-arm-length ratios, etc). That’s why it is essential that workstations can be easily modified and fine-tuned to suit the requirements of different scientific personnel, even if they are carrying out exactly the same process as the last person to occupy the position. The payback of greater comfort is significant - process efficiency again increases, whilst the physical demand on the employee or technician decreases.

Meanwhile, the fast-track developments we are currently seeing in nano-materials and fabrication technologies are creating an exponential rise in the requirement for “manufacturing laboratories”. Here, the technology is evolving so quickly that the rulebook is obsolete before the ink has dried. However, what does seem certain is that many of the control techniques used in manufacturing today are adapting to incorporate clean areas, with the housekeeping disciplines introduced as part of lean manufacturing becoming ever more vital.

Older-style fixed furniture

For the new breed of “fab” environment, there are several companies that are well suited with a range of experience in both industrial and scientific applications. For instance, Sovella have recently completed fitting out at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s largest scientific project for 40 years which will be used for research into nano-materials. Home to the synchrotron light source, Diamond will eventually host up to 40 research stations, called beamlines, each designed to carry out different kinds of experiments. 

In the past, many scientists have had to travel in order to use synchrotrons developed by other countries – a fact which in itself has affected their research work. The synchrotron light generated at the new facility is a million times more intense than a hospital x-ray machine. It enables scientists and engineers to investigate the basic structure of matter, leading to scientific breakthroughs in the fields of biotechnology, medicine, environmental studies and material science.

At the heart of the Diamond synchrotron is a storage ring where electrons are accelerated to nearly the speed of light. Because the electrons are constantly changing direction they are accelerating, and accelerating electrons lose energy in the form of synchrotron light. This intense light is then channelled off into separate beamlines situated around the storage ring. It is in the beamline buildings that the synchrotron light passes through the different samples of material, probing deep into their fine-structure. 

The synchrotron light source at Diamond demands state-of-the-art instrumentation, ensuring that researchers have access to cutting edge analytical techniques and services for at least 30 years. In addition, to being flexible and adjustable, the furniture used has to be equipped to carry heavy scientific equipment - something which Sovella durable components are ideally suited to.

Modern modular furniture

Jean Lane, Diamond’s project manager said: “We chose them because they are robust enough to carry all our heavy devices, but also for their modular structure and the broad range of different components that make the furniture upgradeable for future needs”.  

The scientific systems at Diamond are very straight-forward. The samples to be studied are prepared in the laboratories by the scientific staff and are then taken into the beamline buildings for testing.

“The samples are then returned to the lab for the analyses and a new sample is taken into the beamline. In 2011, when Diamond is up and running to full capacity, all of the laboratories will be in continuous use – meaning there will be a heavy and demanding traffic on the technical furniture we use. And, in addition to the fixed furniture, we also need mobile units in the labs because scientific users will always need to reconfigure furniture layouts”, says Jean Lane. 

We will be helping to take the many important research projects incubated at Diamond right through to the manufacturing stage. And, in this manufacturing laboratory environment, experience gained through partnerships with many of the world’s leading manufacturing companies is intrinsically important. Assemblies and workpieces can move between processes, workstation and departments efficiently and smoothly without the requirement to adapt to dissimilar workstation standards. 

Summing up, then, flexibility is at the heart of 21st century laboratory design. Consigning the old fixed furniture lab to the past and ushering in modular, mobile workstations is the way forward. This equipment provides a much better fit for the increasingly agile scientific world and the progressive approaches now being employed, especially where the once easily defined steps from lab to production are becoming blurred. It will also help save on the time and cost of re-configuration, improve efficiencies and ensure the laboratory is a more comfortable and healthy working environment for all.

Laurence Duffell is Key Account Manager at Sovella. He has more than 25 years’ experience in sales management and business development positions