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Technical Report (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building Research), 1949-01-01
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Sar TEl N2i.t2l n.. 3 e . 2 BEDE
rlElr 5
NATTONAL RESEARCH COUNCTL OF CANADA
DTVTSTON OF BUTLDING RESEABCH
TECHNICAL REPORT
I[9'-
s-REPORT ON
SPACE REQU]RETIENTS FOR SCIENTTFTC NESEAR
LABgEATORIES by J. Lorne Gnay A N A L Y Z E D Ottawa January, 1949 P r l c e 10 e e n L - q i { . r l " C. N'). I 9L3
FOREWORD
The DLvislon of Bulld.lng Research ls prlvlleged. to provl-d.e a med.lum for the publt-catl.on uf thls unusually valuable report by I\fir. Lorne Grayn tshe Report sunmarLses a great
d.eal of lnfor.matlon on the utllLsatlon of
I a b o r a t o r y s p a e e w h l c h h a s b e e n a s s e m b l e d b y nilr. Gray Ln the course of hls specl-al dutles a s Sclentlfic A s s l s t a n t t o t h e P r e s l d e n t o f t h o Councl-l, Dr, Co Jo MackenzJ.eo Tt 1s belleved that the lnforrnatlon hereln
pre-s e n t e d . w 1 1 1 be of pre-special upre-se to thopre-se
engaged. in plannlng laboratory facllltles.
It may, therefore, be roprod.uced. ln whole or
ln part, provlded. that d,ue acknowled.goment ls made of the source of the fu:formatlon and of
I\ffr. Grayls authorshlp, It ls requested. that
the und.erslgned be ad.vls6d whenever the Report 1s so reproduced.o
Robert Fo Legget Dlrecto:r
0 t t a w a ,
}IATION},L RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANA,DA a REPoRT 0N SP.ACE REQUTREMENTS FOR SCTE}iTTFTC RESEARCII I.,ABORATORIES
Ey Jo Eorne Gray
T h e results of a d.etailed. study of space occupancy ln the Natlonai. Research raboratorLes ;.re o f f e r e d as a help to those who are d.oslgnlng new l a b o n a t o r l e s or appralslng the d.egree oF utfttsation o f e x l s t l n g l a b o r a t o r l e s o
-The laboratorles stud.Led, eover a wtde lange of uses and lncIud.e the largo sussex str:eet raboratory, Ottawa, in whlch ovor goo are &cconffilo-d.ated. ln the DLvlsions of Applled Blorogy, crremfstry, Physlcs, Rad.lo and. Electrlcal EngJ_neeri;A; fnfonna-- -t l o n servlces, and. Adnlnrs-tra-tlvo a n d Exe6utlve Offlees; the MontreaL Road. group of nlne aeronautlear labora-torLes near ottawa whero 3Eo are employed., and certaln l a b o r a t o r L e s at the Atomtc Energy pi,oJ6ct, Chalk Rlver, ln whleh 650 are employed.o
O*Jy those laboratonl.es are reportod. ln tabular form urhlch are occupled. to rnaxlmr:m'"rp""t[y o" llear-ilaxlmum gapacltyu and. as there are many iauori-t o r L e s of dlffereniauori-t s L z e s and. character reported. in !h" gtud.prr and as the totar nr:mber of ennplbyees, isoo, ls sLzeableu the overall fl-guros found. can be eonslcl.ered. representatlve
lot fulIy occupled l-abor"atory build.ir€s of the general type under conild.eratLon,
T h e d.ata col_lected have been set out ln T a b r e s r to rv and the followlng are definlttons o i d . e s c r l p t l v e terms used ln the d.lscusslon of the Tableso *useful Areart ls the area computed from lnsf.d.e room
m e a s u r o m e n t s o The total of ulaboratorvrr^ r r o f f L c e r r , nstoresnu nshoptr *rrd. ti;lh;;n" Y l " s constdered. to be useful spaceo
t r G r o s s Area* - is the totar floor &rea, eomputed. from outslde bul1dlng d.inenslonio Eho d.Lfference between Useful_ and Gross Areas ls the eomblned area occupLed. by wall_s, corrLd.ors, stairways and wash_ r o o m s o
Page 2 r r l a b . Area*, ttOffi.ce Areattu rtstores Arearf and. *Shop
Area'r - &ro used. ln the usual sense anb. a r e s e l f - e x p l a n a t o r y "
t r o t h e r
A r e a t t l s a r e a n o t stri-ctly c h a r g e a b r e a s U s e f u l Aroa but whlch is nevertheless a n e s s e n t l a l p a r t o f t h e b u i l d l n g ( e o g o p c o m p r e s s o r r o o m s , transformer v a u l t s o p o w e r equlpment, llbrarles o r l e e t u r e r o o n s ) o
r r u s e Factortt - is the ratiou expressed &s a pereentage, o f U s e f u l A r e a t o G r o s s A r e a "
Ieboratory p e r PersonArea i : D l s t r L b u t l o n Percento f U s e f u l Soace usel'ul G r o s s Colurnn f
rr
rrI
rV
V VT V T I V T I IrX
A p p l i . e d B l o l o g y D l v o BlologLcal Ip.bo Ao Iabs. i 238 I ; ? 5 8i
i 24o j "t 242I
i ?46
i 237 I 269 Ii r_58
II es+
i ?.22 C h e m l s t r y D i v o L a b s n Chemlstry Iebr A" ChemLstry T,ab, B. P h y s l c s D l v o L a b e oTechnlcal Physlcs l€.bo A. T e c h n l c a l P h y s l c s L a b , B . Englnoerfug & Gontrol lab. H o s p l t a l L a b o
R a d l o & E l e c o E n g o D l - v . Iebs E l e c t r o n l e D e v e l o p . I € b o Chalk RLver Labs, (Av. ) NRC tr{aln Ie.bs. (Avo }
5 6 5 5 1 1 3 5 5 5 5 8 366 337 5 6 6 584 346 5?6 ? 3 4 2 3 2 3l.,2 3L4 6 5 " 2 7 6 " 5 7 1 , 6 6 7 . 7 6'l rz ? 1 . 5 7 3 . 5 7 0 . 2 6 6 " 2 6 7 0 g 6 8 0 4 6 9 " 1 7 5 . O 7 0 " 6 7 L . 4 i \ 84o2 i, 6 5 . O j 8 5 . 0 i 5 9 r 4 6 7 " 0 i 63"4 i 9 ? " O i ! 5 8 . O i I 5 5 . 9 I I 4 7 . 2 ! I 1 0 , 1 7 . O 1 0 . 6 14.4 1 9 . 5 3 . O 1 9 . 5 4 5 . 8 1 5 . 9 1 5 " I 2 2 r A 2 0 . 3 1 ? o B : 3 " 7 9 , 8 1 . 9
in.,
r 1 O . 2 : -l_0. O i 1 5 . 1 | ? n O i 2 " 2 i 1 1 8 . 4 I I i 20,2 tI l o . s
' 7 o lr " 2
1 5 . 7 2 n g 1 1 0 g 8 n 6 2 . L1 " 9 i
4 . 5 ' i L 6 " 1 i j 5 0 5 i t 2 O . 9 i I 9 " 6 I 2 . 9 7 0 1 8 . 0 2 " 1 1 3 " I 1 3 " 6 5 o 9 5 . 8 TABI,E TSPACE UIIITZATTON SI]R\TEY NATTONAL RESEARCH IABCRATORIES CANADA
N o t e S A l l d l v l s l o n s a r e l o c a t e d a t t h e m a l n Natlonal Researeh Laboratorleso A l l o t h e r l a b o r a t o r l e s a r e l o c a t e d a t t h e Atomlc Energy ProJect.
Ep
@ Ol
Page 4 TABI,E II ADII{fNISTRATf 0N UNITS E o c a t l o n A r e a p e rP o r s o n u s e l ' u I l G r o s s Usefulg,u r o s s Column I
rT
I T lrV
General Offlcos (Ctratt< Rlver) Gate House and. Offlces (Cfraft
R l v e r ) I n f o r n a t i o n S e r v l e e s A d m l n l s t r a t l o n & E x e c u t l v e 104 150 117 1 4 L 1 6 0 192 166 2 0 0 6 5 0 0 6 9 . 5 7 0 " 4 7 0 " 4 TABLE TIT SHOP ITNTTS TABLE] TV
MTSCELI,ANEOUS UNTTS - EXCESSIVELY CROWDED f,oeatlon - aroa perP e r s o n
u S e I ' u I l t i r o s s
Ufefulff, u r o s s
Colurnn I r I I I I I
Instrunent Shop (Chalk Rlver) Malntenance $hop (Cha1k HLver) Carpentry Shop (Chalk Rlver) f n s t " & ModeL shop (Ottawa)
' 1 5 " 7 8 5 " 5
8 7 " O
7 9 o g
t o c a t l o n ( C t r a t f Rlver) Area per"P e r s o n UsefuLe4
G;E
Useful G r o s s
Column T I T
Irr
IVIndustrlal Chemlstry Labo
B l o l o g l c a l l e b " B T e c h n l c a l P h y s l c s L a b " C 1 6 8 L34 12L 2 4 2 184 L72 6 9 o 5 ' 1 2 oB ' 1 Q . 4
Page 5 DISCIISSTON OF TABI,ES
Table I
The number of people occupylng lnd.ivldu,al" s e c t l o n s varles from LE to 28i,, whl1e the numbers ln
t h e g r o u p s of laboratorles s h o w n 1n the last two ltems
of TabLe f are approxlmatel"y 650 and. gOO"
f h e fLrst six laboratorles 1 1 s t e d . in
Table r are of the usual type of blol"ogLcai", chemleal
or_physlcaL laboratory, and the useful spaee varles
only trom 237 to 246 squaro feet per person. fhls
sTall 1ange of space requirements ls very strlklng ln
vlew of the fact that tlie actual dlstrtbutlon of fpaeo
l n t o laboratory, o f f l c e , s h o p , stores and. other
ts-d . l f f e r e n t for each Laboratory,
T h e fechnlcal Physlcs laboratorles I l s t e d
ln Tabl-e f have useful space of ZAg and pyO square
f e e t p e r p e r s o n but they are speclal areas udrr ltmlted, personnel and much speelal equlpmentu The {rpaee flgures
lor !!e_Englnoertng and Control laboratory anA for tne
Hospltalrrare of a slmllar order of magnitud.e, although
t t r e uses to whlch the space ls put are quLte- dlffer6nt" T h e ftgures for tho seetlons of Radlo and.
E l e c t r l c a l E n g l n o e r l n g and for an Electronlc
Develop-ment Eaboratory, rnrhLch were fu1ly occupJ.ed. but not
e x c e s s l v e l y crowded, are based on a number of sampLes t o o limlted to justLfy a falr conelusJ.on, but they ao show that these partJ"cular raboratorles have usefi.L s p a c e flgures of 160 and 1b8 square feet per persono
The last two lLnes of TabLe I are perhaps
m o s t interestlng s l - n c e they refer to the compleie grbup
of ohalk RLver laboratorles and. the maln National
-R e s e a r c h laboratorleso A s t h e g r o s s area flgures are
p r a e t l e a l l y l d e n t t e a l , t h e use faetor shows tne same
v a r l a t l o n a s the usefuL area, roughly flve per eento
f h e hLgher use factor Ls easil"y aeeounted fbr by the more temporary nature of the eonstrr.rctlon of th6
chal"k Ri"ver bulldlngs" The rather arnazlng observatlon
1 s the sLmllarlty-in t h e flgures f or usefil s p a e e p e r
pgrpol ln spLte of the d.ifferenee ln the type- of uie of thls spaee as skrown Ln eolurnne V to fxo
Page 6
A d n l n t s t r a t l o n U n L t s
T a b l e If lndlcates that adnLristratlon a r e a s roqulre mueh less space than research areago T h l s ls a natural concluslon ufien lt ls consldered. t h a t such as accounts, stenographLc pool.s and pur-c h a s l n g s e pur-c t l o n s are tnpur-cluded 1n thls groupo Useful a r e a s of about 110 square feet per person appear to
bo sufflcLent for general offl-ces and somewhat hlgher
r e q u l r e m e n t s for senlor admlnlstratlve a n d . e x e c u t l v e
s t a f f n F o r g e n e r a l eonslderatlons an allowance of
1 5 0 s q u a r e feet of useful space per person should be
ample for adrninlstratlve requlrementso
Shop Unlts
f a b l e III s u g g e s t s that area
requlre-m e n t s for shops vary consld.erably. T h e flrst t h r e e
a r e specl-al shops ana tne space itgures for these w o u l d not necessarlly be appllcable to shops of more
normal tpe" The Instrument and Mod.el Shop, howevero
ls a rather large complote shop, lnclud.ing not only t h e s h o p areas but also the stores and offl.ce sreas r e q u l r e d l n c o n n e c t l o n w l t h l t s o p e r a t l o n , a n d . t h e f l g u r e of 258 square feet per person of useful space mlght be used. as a guid.e f or the roqulremonts of- an a v e r a g e well-equtpped. .shop"
A r e a s Excesslvely Crowded,
T a b l e IV has been lncluded to lndicate t h e occupancy flgures of areas that were being
o p e r a t e d und.er excessively crorvd.ed condltlonso A
Te-chnlcal Physics Laboratory wlth a useful spaee of 121 square feet per person was very erowded.r- and. Lt w a s the oplnlon of those concerned wlth thls area that the cramlled cond.ltlone were causlng a d.efinlte d . e e r e a s e l n efflclencyo
SPEC]AL ENGI NEERING I,ABORATORIES
T h e o c c u p a n c y figures o f t h e a e r o
-n a u t l c a l e n g i n e e r l n g i a b o i a t o r l e s v a r l e d o v e r a w r d . e
range, owlng partly to the type of bulldlng, but
m o r e p a r t l c u l a r l y t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e b u l l d . l n g s a r e
_not yet fully occupled., and aecordlngly the flgures
page 7 u s e f u l space per person for thls entlre group was 4 7 2 equare feet; but such 'abonato"r"r as those of t h e hydraullcs sectlon wlt
and. an occupancy of over I naturalLy puts these Labor c a t e g o r y n L a b o r a t o r l e s of
c l a l a r e a s p r o v l d e d to e m e n t s " T t i s l n t e r e s t l n e
are made for tho mod.el-n e - t e s t l mod.el-n g b e d s , tho gro"u
ffi5
3f"i:H;tl"tl;:"1:-o e c u p a n c y 3f"i:H;tl"tl;:"1:-o + 6 on the basls of full
USE FACTO}r RECOIviI,fiSNDATI ONS o n o b t a l n e d from this n n l n g - o r d l n a r y b l o l o g L c a l , l n e e r l n g r e s e i r c h t a 6 o r J _ " o s s a r e a p e r person should
pago I fn order to allow for a reasonable
lncrease of staff and frextbtllty ln operation, the NatLonal Research couneil has ad6pted i, rrgo"e"oi---t O O ^ s q u a r e feet of gross space per person as a d e s l g n speciflcation f o r new laLonatorios of thls t y p e r wlth an estLmated. use factor of ?o per ceritc
The recomnend.ed. flgures of 4OO cquar€ f e e t g r o s s g p a c e per person and a use factor dr zo per cent are not applicable to one or more detached. 11b_or1!gry rooms but- only !o * bullitlng or a group of bulldlngs ln whlch ar6 housed. all t6e aomtnls-tratlve, offleo, shop" and store spac€ needed. for the openation of the laboratorles,