Laboratory Design Guide

Architectural Press / Elsevier, UK

3rd edition, 2005 reprinted 2008

This book is used as a reference by project design teams.

Contents | Introduction | Reviews

The Laboratory Design Guide is available from Elsevier (UK), Amazon (USA) and Architext (Australia)

Tomi Komoly
Komoly Associates International Laboratory Design Consultants

This is a very readable textbook, on a subject which rarely receives the attention in technical literature which it deserves. Modern laboratories cannot be designed successfully by non-specialist architectural / engineering teams. Even those with experience require guidelines as well as references to facilities which have proved their worth through successful operation.

Although the title is "Laboratory Design Guide", this book is much more than that. It covers essential aspects of laboratory projects such as Project Management, Environment, Costs, Handover and Maintenance in a fully integrated manner. It also excels by paying attention to the design skills of other members of the multi-discipline design team, such as those concerned with piped services, ventilation, electrical services, computers and instrumentation sometimes by the Author himself, but mainly by experts in each of the specialist fields.

The Guide deals in a straightforward, well-organised manner with the Design Brief and Methodology, the planning of buildings and the layout within, and with the most important aspects of laboratory furniture and its possible arrangements. The features concerning modular design and flexibility are particularly useful. The guide is particularly rich in demonstrative examples not only of completed projects involving the Author and other architects, but also of some under construction or at the design stage. The 43 case studies (most are located in Australia, eight are from the UK and another eight from other parts of the world) represent a good spread of laboratory design principles and practices. This section, and the associated collection of schematics, details and photographs forms perhaps the most informative part of the book, with equal relevance to general architectural practice and the specialist.

From Book News, Inc.

Walks through the stages of laboratory design and construction, offering practical advice and detailed examples. Covers the latest designs for new and evolving laboratory practices and equipment and includes current and future requirements for laboratories such as automation.

Case studies illustrate principles and represent the international view of laboratory design. Includes color photos and b&w floor plans. Useful for architects, clients, engineers, building project managers, and scientists.

Davina Jackson
Architecture Australia
Sept/Oct 1998

The text is comfortably consumed, there are many good line drawings and the colour photographs of various recent case studies are valuable.

Professor Ian Thornton
Science & Technology
La Trobe University

It will be invaluable to people faced with the situation of new laboratories to plan for and consider. And it is so well set out and illustrated - many congratulations.

What's New in Scientific & Laboratory Technology
Aug/Sept 1998

The examples cover multifunctional tertiary teaching, research institutions, pure research, and commercial pathology and government laboratories. All the case studies are there to amplify points made earlier in the book.

The author has demonstrated his understanding of the workings – social, material and economic – of a wide variety of laboratories …Many common problems in laboratories could be avoided if this guide was compulsory reading for laboratory managers, architects and designers.

Neil Ludvigsen,
Northern Territory University
Chemistry in Australia
24 Jan 2000

Having moved in to a new laboratory for teaching and research 12 months ago, I wish that our faculty had had this book available to us 4 years ago while we were in the planning stage of the building.

This would have given the laboratory staff insights into how buildings are built and how to go about consulting with the building designers, architects, engineering consultants, contractors and sub-contractors and all the other various people that most laboratory staff have little day-to-day experience with.