What You Don’t See Can Hurt You

The layout and equipment requirements of the prep area will vary by discipline. Biology and chemistry will require sinks with hot and cold water and counter and wall space for discipline specific equipment such as centrifuges, autoclaves, lab ovens, incubators, spectrometers, microwave oven, etc. Make sure sufficient electrical power of the proper voltage is provided for these items; all circuits should have GFI protection. Floor space for a refrigerator may be required, as well as an icemaker, dishwasher, and cart storage. A generator for deionized water may need wall space and a water connection to the sink. A fume hood will likely be

Fume hood shared with adjacent lab

required for use by the teacher in prepping chemicals for student lab activities or demonstrations. While the teacher might be able to use a hood in the adjacent lab/classroom for this activity, when another class is in session in that space, a hood in the prep room is a better solution. A hood could be selected for this purpose with sash on two sides so that it might also serve as one of the hoods used by the students during a class. Physical science will probably require a single, large sink and more counter space and open shelving. Prep areas should be equipped with the same safety equipment normally provided for a lab/classroom including a safety shower/eyewash, fire blanket, and fire extinguisher.

Prep and storage spaces should be immediately adjacent to the lab/classrooms they serve. One potential approach is to provide a large prep/storage space between two adjacent lab/classrooms so that the two adjacent spaces can use the same facility. Such a prep/storage space should be sized using the same guidelines given above: 10 sq. ft. per student or, in this case, 480 sq. ft. for a pair of adjacent 24-student lab/classrooms.

View Window in Prep Room

Ample glass view windows between the prep area and the lab/classroom should be provided to allow supervision of students when the teacher goes into the prep room. Doors between the lab/classrooms and the prep room should be lockable, and a separate lockable door should be provided from the prep room to the adjacent corridor to allow a teacher to access the prep and storage areas while another class is in session in an adjacent lab/classroom.

Schools with more than two lab/classrooms per discipline often prefer to construct a central prep and storage facility, so as to minimize the duplication of equipment needed. A variety of arrangements have been developed to provide central prep/storage including long spaces connecting four or more lab/classrooms or more square spaces with doors directly to adjacent lab/classrooms. One of the challenges of such a layout is to provide satisfactory access to both the lab/classrooms and the prep/storage space, while still having windows and natural light in the lab/classrooms. Building codes limit the length of “dead-end” corridors, so a central prep space may require corridors on the opposite sides of the lab/classrooms. It is unadvisable, however, to locate prep/storage facilities remote from the lab/classrooms they serve as this will require the teacher to transport potentially hazardous materials through corridors.