Lab design and layout

[mikeofBelAir]

I am with a new engineering firm and we are moving into new--unused spaces.
I have the opportunity to design the new lab. Although I have been working in this field since Carter was the President, I like to take advantage of the knowledge that others have acquired along the way.
So--if you had the opportunity to design a soils and concrete lab what would you do? How would you lay it out?

We have one room with conditioned air that is 20' X 20'. It needs to hold 5- 8' long tanks for curing concrete cylinders--that pretty much takes up on entire wall. We have double doors at each end roughly on the centerline, dividing the room in half. The tanks are on one side of the pathway between the two sets of double doors. That leaves an entire 20' long wall. I can build a work bench along that wall. The compression machine for cylinder testing is in another room. Space for sieve shakers is also available in another room.

The soils tests to be done in this room are: moisture content ( oven and micro wave), sieves, hydrometer and limits, and Proctors. We may add Specific Gravity testing (ASTM D854) at a later date.

Sample prep and sample storage are also in other spaces.

How would you do it?

Thanks for the help.

 

[morecoffeeplz]

Can you fit an island bench in the center of the room as well?

You need to consider the expect traffic on the balances. If one person is running a proctor, can someone else be weighing up a gradation at the same time?

Where is the sink? Where are your ovens?