Subject: Re: CCL:Comp Chem Lab Design

From: "Rebecca Rone" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 15:39:26 -0500

Dear Charlie,

When I was at MSI we typically had posters made from color slides to show
some of our and our customer's "success" stories. These were in the lobby,
the conference rooms, the halls proceeding to the demo room, and in the demo
room. These "successes" make interesting conversation pieces.

All of the demo rooms were interior rooms. This is helpful to people who do
not sit in front of the computer all day looking at graphics. They need to
be able to focus their full visual attention on the screen in order to "see"
the 3D representations. Otherwise, they still "see" it in 2D. If you cannot
arrange an interior room for visitors please get heavy drapes to be able to
shut out the majority of light. Vertical blinds normally used for conference
rooms are just not thick enough to do the job. This is very important in
using stereo options.

For every day use, I personally like to face a window with the terminal set
to the left side of the window to prevent glare. That way I can still look
outdoors to rest my eyes or think about a problem. This only works for those
of us who do these visualizations every day. Even so, you may need a glare
screen over your monitors. Normal room blinds work well enough for me in
this situation when the afternoon sun starts to come in the window. Don't
use the perforated (light filtering) kind.

Think about where you wish to place manuals. They need to be conveniently
located, but most people are daunted by an entire wall of manuals mounted
over the desktop. Particularly people new to the task of using computers,
i.e. junior personnel or bench chemists trying to get a handle on
computational techniques.

I like a little space to the right of the keyboard (past the mouse pad) for
note taking on a legal pad. Actually a "return" on that side is preferable.
I also prefer a space to the left big enough for a full binder manual to lie
open. Once I used a printer table as a desk for my graphics monitor. That
worked very well. The height was right and the cables all came up through
the paper slot.

Please check out ergonomic considerations for your employees particularly
pull out trays under the tabletop in order to lower the keyboard. Fully
adjustable chairs are preferable for employees who sit all day.

If I can be of more help please call 773-646-2585 and/or check out my
website www.mcs.net/~rone.

-----Original Message-----
From: Charlie Laughton <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked] <[email-masked]>
Date: Friday, April 07, 2000 10:00 AM
Subject: CCL:Comp Chem Lab Design

>Dear All,
>
>I have the opportunity to design from scratch a new comp. chem. facility
>of about 50 sq. m. Our current layout is very basic - just desking
>against the walls. It would be nice to have something that created a
>more inspiring environment.
>
>I would be interested to hear from other members of the list who have
>experience of successful (and unsuccessful!) designs as to what sort of
>layouts can work well.
>
>Regards,
>
>Charlie
>
>--
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Dr Charlie Laughton                   |
>Lecturer in Drug Design and Discovery | Phone: (+44) 115 951 3405
>School of Pharmaceutical Sciences     | Fax:   (+44) 115 951 3412
>University of Nottingham              | Email:
>Nottingham NG7 2RD                    |
>[email-masked]
>UK                                    |
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------