The optimum laboratory layout
The storeroom also determines laboratory efficiency
When designing a laboratory, many things come to mind, but not a well-placed "storage room". Yet it is these support rooms in particular that can have a strong positive influence on the efficiency of a laboratory.
In a conventional laboratory, chemical cabinets, refrigerators and other storage facilities are usually spread throughout the lab. This means that everyone has access, but it also leads to a lot of unnecessary walking .
It is also easy to get in the way of colleagues if you have to go into the neighboring corridor to get a measuring cup or a chemical. Sometimes the cabinets are even located directly under the laboratory workstation. Then the other person has to interrupt their work and make room. All this takes time and reduces efficiency.
Internal support room optimizes walking distances
When building or renovating a laboratory, it is therefore important to know the processes well during the designing stage in order to find the optimal layout and thus enable short walking distances and efficient processes. All the things that are regularly needed in the laboratory must also be quickly accessible to everyone.
When designing a laboratory, it is therefore important for us at Infraserv to review and scrutinize existing concepts in order to create new and better solutions. After all, a laboratory layout that is optimized for work processes can save a lot of time in the long run.
For example, if there is a lot of work equipment that is used equally by all employees and should be easily accessible, it can also make sense to set up a separate room with refrigeration, chemical and storage cabinets.
At one of our customers, we have therefore arranged a support room in the middle of the laboratory. It is accessible from all sides and employees can quickly find everything they need for their daily tasks. As the workstations are located around the outside of the support room, walking distances are also very short. This makes work much more efficient.
And in order to work out exactly that and ultimately find the optimal solution, we accompany, advise and support laboratory operators in the designing and implementation of their future laboratories.
Laboratory design: Questions you should answer before starting construction
If you want to know what else there is to consider in the process, simply read through our guide to laboratory design.
