The Flexible and Technological Advantages Associated with Overhead Service Systems

Egbert Dittrich, LABDICON - Dittrich Consulting

Enormous progress and permanent change in regard to the duties in analytical laboratories has increasingly changed the requirements for laboratory equipment, furniture, and pipe installations. Even after short periods of time, such as in between the decision to build a new laboratory and starting with the operation, the design of a laboratory may already have become obsolete. Designers and architects are hampered in their designs, in as much as they can only provide for the present requirements of the end user. They cannot possibly foresee what specific new tasks end users may have to perform, and what the ever-changing future research environment may require, in terms of buildings and equipment, to be housed therein. 

A new approach to laboratory design, away from the conservative solutions of yesterday, is needed. The new design approach would have to address aspects such as modular design characteristics for the entire building including new room concepts, incorporating new furniture and installation layouts.  The methods and character of scientific work has changed. We notice a significant retreat from working at usual workbenches with chemicals, solvents, etc. Major processes are done in fume hoods. Monitoring of laboratory apparatus and robots, as well as evaluations, analysis, and numerous other tasks are carried out by different computers, which require a desk to be located in the laboratory, from where the processes can be controlled, viewed, and observed. 

The architect has to plan for the rooms to be flexible so that they may be changed from laboratories to offices and back. This flexibility requires a modular building concept allowing for the ever-changing usage of the rooms. The modular concept is important not only in terms of the above, but also with regard to the varying new equipment and apparatus employed, and which may require to be connected to services, the media of which is presently not known. It must be easy for the users, as well as outside installers, to change the installation and service fixtures, to add new media, and/or increase the number of services without shutting down the laboratory, and it must be possible to do this in a safe and efficient manner, without causing undesired disruption. 

From inception, the engineers have to design systems that allow any changes to be easily carried out, without having to resort to complicated procedures such as drilling, welding, soldering, and the like. To achieve this, a necessary feature of the design would have to be the incorporation of special couplings for the services, which allow easy connection and disconnection. In order to guarantee complete flexibility of all the service connections, such as ventilation, air conditioning, electricity, and any other media, and extending this same flexibility to ceilings and walls, a common rack and fixing system needs to be installed at the ceiling to provide the end user with a totally integrated design.

The rack allows for an ultimate degree of flexibility and is used for the stable installation of all services. The service fixtures for all laboratory media and additional devices are fastened to the rack through modular towers, thus making them easily accessible to the laboratory personnel. The rack and tower system offers a highly technical, precise, and integrated concept, which fulfils all possible needs one might encounter in a laboratory. It is easy to assemble, disassemble, enlarge, and reduce—and an essential feature in all laboratories, where forever-changing tasks and standards require the utmost degree of flexibility. Integrated in the rack supply and extract air are two of the technical trades which have to meet requirements regarding the convenience and the room climate as well as saving energy for the lifetime of the building and the production process. Furthermore, sizing of the building has a significant influence on the life cycle costs.

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