The laboratory has always been a functional place. But the concept of functionality has changed over the years.
Once upon a time, labs were only places where scientists conducted their research without other “added values”. now they can also be places of “intellectual contamination” where different people live in a collaborative space.
The challenge remains to have a place that allows the combination of high performance and competition skills.
What are the canons that (re) define the concept of functionality in a laboratory today?
Labmanager provides us with 10 basic elements.
-Design for purpose: creation of spaces to promote collaboration but also concentration.
-Design for ergonomics:
functional furniture that helps people to give comfort during the most intense work periods.
-Design for felxibility:
The space around people can evolve and change as research and work change.
-Design for safety: Design must always safeguard the health of those who work.
-Agile Infrastructure:
an agile structure looks at today’s needs and tomorrow’s needs
-Sustainable:
It is essential to be efficient also in terms of energy savings.
-Easily adptable:
it is a concept similar to adaptability. Spaces must be able to change easily as equipment and technology change.
-Collaborative:
nowadays design encourages the integration between different departments and their ideas,
-Cross-purposed
Proximity allows for shared resources, not only mental but also material, with the sharing of tools and equipment (with the benefit of cost savings)
-Dynamic meeting spaces
informal and formal meeting places must be outside the laboratory.
Certainly the idea of performance can have different meanings both depending on the times we live and the laboratory to which we refer, however it is undeniable that workspaces, such as laboratories, are rethought and therefore certain canons become fundamental to combine research and efficiency.
If you want to deepen the points exposed, please read the Labmanager article.
Recent Comments