Convatec – Stability Laboratory Suite

Contract Value:- £50,600
Completed:- June 2012
Location:- Deeside, North Wales

• • Fume Cupboard
  • Custom Made Tall Storage
  • Tailor Made Bin Cabinets
  • Mobile Gratnells Tray Cabinets

iab were approached by a company called Trustland, the main contractor for Convatec, to aid them with the development of a design for a Stability Laboratory Suite. We met with the main contractor team and staff from Convatec to finalize a design that encompassed all their requirements.

During the meeting we came up with a range of tailor made solutions that would resolve some of the storage issues that Convatec had at their previous suite. These included custom made tall storage units with made to measure stainless steel trays. In the same tall storage units, we fitted a range of deep Gratnell trays that could be easily be removed and were useful for storing laboratory consumables.

After discussing the options for the benching, both Convatec and Trustland chose to go with the full cantilever frame work option – This meant they could add and remove under bench storage as they required. Both the main contractor and the client agreed that it would be more beneficial and preferable for mobile storage units to be the option used enabling the client to move them from bench to bench and create more space where needed.

Another area that had to be addressed in the previous lab was the way that they stored waste –  in a large industrial bin on casters. To solve this issue, we designed a fixed double door unit for under the island bench. The unit was backless to enable easy cleaning.

The design process wasn’t just about finding the areas that could have been improved but also incorporating ideas that were working well for them. One of the items kept the same was the sink and hand wash arrangement – the sink area was made up of a Trespa worktop to match the rest of the lab, with a stainless steel under slung bowl. To create the drainer boards in the worktop, we routered grooves into the top using a specialist machine. The grooves lead the water away from the work surface, and into the bowl. The wash hand basin installed by us was mounted in the same way, both the sink and the wash hand basin had Trespa to the rear and glass splash screens either side.

Another requirement from the client was for us to supply and install a 1500mm standard fume cupboard. This was installed with 3no. ventilated storage cabinets underneath for storing chemicals. We also installed infill panels to hide the ductwork.