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Furniture materials are another way to tailor and build a dependable workspace. There are several benchtop materials you can choose from depending on your budget and what kinds of chemical or environmental stressors your furniture will be exposed to daily. Some materials can withstand the most corrosive and hazardous materials, while others offer moisture resistance and require minimal cleaning effort.

Customizing furniture is an excellent advantage to utilizing your furniture for multiple applications. This can be achieved with modular chairs, stands, and shelving. As your workspace evolves and grows, you won’t be held back by limitations in space or stationary, heavy equipment.

Selecting the proper furniture for your laboratory will save money and support your team by decreasing the risks of workplace injuries with easy-to-maintain, long-lasting furniture pieces.

Discover all of the possibilities for your laboratory furniture setup by exploring our options below.

Lab furniture products

Comprehensive product choice is the foundation of our unmatched ability to deliver the lab furniture you need, when you need it.

We carefully manage our warehouse inventory based on your evolving needs. This ensures reliable access to a broad selection of products, each with its own established history of dependable performance.

Delivering the furniture you need on schedule is crucial to maintaining efficiency in your lab. That is why Avantor^® project coordinators track every order to guarantee on-time delivery. Discover all of the laboratory furniture products available through Avantor^®.

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Why is laboratory furniture needed?

When establishing a high-functioning workspace, furniture plays a significant role in safety, the effectiveness of daily operations, and the overall comfort of your team. Without the right amount of storage and workstations, a lab can become cluttered and create bottlenecks in locating equipment or performing standard procedures. Some materials are also better suited for chemical handling, making it critical to source the proper furniture that will sustain through repeated exposure to corrosive or hazardous materials.

To better understand the utility of furniture, below we address the benefits of quality lab furniture:

Proper laboratory furniture optimizes safety

A well-setup workspace can mean the difference between a well-functioning laboratory and a workplace hazard. Selecting workbenches that minimize footprints in the lab can keep walkways open in the case of emergencies. Specialized furniture such as chemical cabinets and safety bins help minimize the risks of accidents in the workplace and keep table tops free for daily use.

Benchtops come in various surface materials, providing options for labs that require the handling of dangerous materials. This will increase the longevity of your furniture, while also protecting your staff from furniture-related accidents or malfunctions. It is recommended to find treated wood benches or stainless-steel countertops for most industrious or research settings.

High-quality furniture supports operational function and organization

An organized laboratory will increase productivity and ease of function in the workspace. Customized workstations and shelving can come in handy when creating a streamlined process in the lab.

When installing a highly regulated workspace, such as a Class I Division II chemistry lab, it can be considerably more expensive to construct based on regulatory standards. This often requires elegant but simplistic laboratory designs that limit exposure to electric or flame hazards, all in a relatively small lab space. Through proper operational planning and furniture selection, you can minimize both overhead and long-term costs while avoiding cutting corners on workspace and resources for your team.

Well-furnished workspaces provide greater comfort

Setting up a productive and health-conscious workspace starts with furniture selection. By prioritizing ergonomic furniture options, and well-spaced workstations you can create a working environment that maximizes comfort and efficiency.

Sitting or standing for long periods can be incredibly taxing on the body, especially in locations with hard flooring. Providing gripping floor mats and well-constructed seating will protect your team from countless workplace-related injuries. Additionally, offering a range of heights for different workspaces can enable your team to move through daily tasks without the risk of injury from tedious tasks and repetitive motions.

What are the different types of laboratory furniture?

Deciding on the best products to furnish your lab can be difficult, as there are so many options available on the market today. This can become less complex when you narrow down your search to a few key factors based on your application.

When selecting lab furniture you must consider; what kind of environmental wear will your furniture be exposed to? Or, what kind of equipment will you be operating and does this require any specialized furniture needs (size, stability, temperature resistance)? Here, we will breakdown the fundamentals of the different types of laboratory furniture.

Stationary vs. mobile workspaces

When deciding between stationary and mobile furniture for your lab, there are a few things to reflect on. It’s important to discern if your workspaces will be used for a multitude of procedures, or if each workstation will be specialized to optimize your process.

Some specialized equipment will require stationary furniture, such as analytical balances that must be calibrated and on a leveled surface at all times.

Equipment that does not require a level surface, but may be incredibly heavy may benefit from being on a mobile bench so it can be brought to various workstations to minimize the need for multiple pieces of expensive equipment, such as vacuum pumps or computer stations for analytics.

A combination of stationary and mobile furniture options will likely support your laboratory operating at maximum efficiency.

Specialized materials

There are benefits to selecting specific materials for your benchtop and laboratory furniture. Some materials are designed to withstand the heavy use of abrasive materials, while others are built to minimize biological contamination. Here we will focus on three of the most common benchtop materials found in a lab workspace:

High pressure laminate

This stylish and affordable surface material is ideal for multipurpose workspaces that incorporate exposure to moisture or heat. Built for durability, high pressure laminate is both moisture and water-resistant, keeping furniture dry and easy to maintain. It is also known for its low heat conductivity – making it an ideal surface for handling hot labware or tools.

Epoxy resin

Slightly more hardy than high-pressure laminate; epoxy resins can withstand temperatures of 300-350°C. It offers resistance to environmental and moisture degradation, and resistance to a wide range of laboratory chemicals. Epoxy resin has a high mechanical strength, meaning it has significant resistance to impact from heavy equipment. The disadvantage to epoxy resin is its heavy weight and availability as a sourced material. It may require considerable lead times or custom installation depending on your laboratory needs.

Stainless steel

One of the most popular laboratory furniture materials, stainless steel is perfect for creating a clean and durable laboratory workstation. Stainless steel is easy to sanitize as it is a non-porous surface making it easier to eliminate contamination. Its properties are rust-resistant, making it a versatile and long-lasting material for any lab space. In addition to being highly heat resistant, stainless steel can withstand most corrosive chemicals making it the best option for all chemistry and biomedical laboratories.

Adjustable & modular options

Many lab furniture suppliers will offer modular options, as labs may require variations in height and length to fit into the workspace properly. Workbenches and seats can be made adjustable so that they can be resized to support many laboratory applications.

This modularity can decrease the amount of furniture items needed to successfully suit up your laboratory, providing an alternative to focus on high-quality furniture products rather than quantity.

Conclusion

Well-executed operational planning for a laboratory facility requires careful consideration of floor planning and furniture selection. A major component of this is understanding how daily procedures will require specific types of lab benches and storage containers to optimize the workflow, and keep your team from over exerting themselves.

This can be achieved by utilizing the resources we have established above, which are intended to help you select the safest and most ergonomic options for your office, lab, or warehouse.

Whether you are furnishing a small clean room closet, or a large analytical testing space – Avantor^® is your trusted laboratory furniture supplier to deliver the best options for your lab.