Matt, Chris and I went for another reconnaissance visit today, and took some measurements. Here are the basic vital statistics…
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So, let’s get some ideas together. Reply here, or create a new topic in the “Hackspace” category, and see how much awesome we can think of in the least amount of time.
Please try to keep it practicable, as we would all like to be able to start Making some time this year. For absurd suggestions, be prepared to personally pay to get it made in time 
Lets get some opinions on:
- Benches round the outside -v- a work-island
- Under-floor storage?
- Preference for work surfaces under the windows?
- Nominations for permanent work-stations, such as a soldering-station, a test/measurement station, etc.
- Priority for tools for eg. soldering, SMD
So chuck your ideas, requests and suggestions in the ring - but remember that time, space and money are limited, so some ideas will have to be parked for another day.
Right, brain dump of ideas.
Doorway:
As we might have flexibility in terms of the door orientation, we should try and get it to open outside - this gives us a bit of extra room on the wall next to the door.
I then think we should separate the doorway a little, to allow a bit of an entrance for people coming in - you don’t want to be in the middle of a collaborative project as soon as you’re in, so some space to enter and see what’s going on first might be an idea. I had a simple suggestion of putting a table along like so, which could be for dumping bags, sitting at, or has donation boxes on (banana for scale):
Tool storage:
To benefit from such a small space, we should try and maximise the utilisation of common things like storage, this seems like a neat idea - it allows for modular ‘shelves’ in a big (I was thinking floor to ceiling) unit, that can be pulled out and fitted to desks. This would allow uncommon tools and machines that aren’t used all of the time to be stashed away, rather than permanently out - e.g. the lathe, pillar drill, 3d printer etc.
Secondly, it would be nice to have a free section of wall to store hand tools and the like. A very, very nice system to use (and one I use in my workshop) is the French Cleat, which allows one to move storage around in a modular fashion. See an example here for tools, and a neat way of storing small parts, e.g. hardware and components, here.
Work desks and collaboration:
I think border workstations around the wall would be nice, but perhaps moveable. If for example we wanted to create a central island, we can wheel the desks into a cube in the middle, and have them lock together to form a big island desk. As a simple illustration:
into…
I think modularity and configurability are going to be the keys to getting this to work 
If we can get hold of some half-decent (or better) locking casters, that could mean we fashion everything as movable, and yet have it lock down fairly securely. It’s fairly common in wood workshops.
Senor @gingebot provided me some of these before, and they are very good quality and very cost effective. Perhaps he could do the same again?
Came up with this layout which may work, but I had a few questions that make be worth considering.
- What permanent equipment do we need?
- With equipment like a laser cutter how do we sort ventilation?
Like the idea of everything modular and is definitely the answer. Two things to consider unless electrics are in the ceiling or floor any island table is going to end up wires dangling across the room. Also a workbench against the wall can have shelves above, while moving or island units can’t (unless we use drones instead of wall brackets), so less storage capacity or everyone has their backs to each other?
Not sure of the solution but there must be a balance somewhere.
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I really like your floor plan @AndrewPatience, looks great.
One thing however is that the laser cutter will probably need to be near a window for ventilation, or at least a little closer to one than it is there.
One thing we need to research is filtering the exhaust - we have seen relatively enormous filter boxes installed in other hackspaces, but at EMF I saw quite a compact setup in the Fablab truck.
I’ve added a couple of renders of how it might be with the laser cutter and the MMSU in place.
Printer against a wall, all benches are wheelable. This has some issues due to all the table legs reducing the number of places to sit.
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Printer in the middle of the windows. Benches along the wall are fixed to the wall (no legs) so more room for sitting in different places.
The narrow benches are 50cm deep. The deeper one with the laser on is 80.
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Slightly alternate layout…
Nice. Looks a bit more open. I would rotate the laser 90° CCW just to put
the vent pointing towards the window, so it requires less routing - it’s
quite a fat pipe.
I thought that, but it would kind of block the window when not in use, and my thoughts were along the lines of daylight is good for certain projects.
There’s almost space maybe, to feed the tube under the cabinet and up through the front of it’s stand.
Also, we could invest in a bigger fan and a smaller out duct. There is also the thought of making a filter box like many other spaces have.
And space for 2 more storage units !
Does it end up with one or two less seating positions because of the legs?
Wonders if we should we make some sort of provision provision for coats and bags ?
Door hooks/ door-mounted coat racks any use for coats and lighter bags? Saves floor space…
Sky hooks?
Actually one thing I keep harping on about is french cleats, much to @Cylindric’s annoyance. The good thing about this is that we can easily make anything wall mounted with ease, coat/bag hooks will certainly be one of the first
I put french cleats on my bedroom storage, seem to work well.
Not that the french cleats are annoying, that I’m annoying 
They wont be hard to make, plus is the best way to keep wall drilling to a minimum.
Another random thought, what do we want to do about having a “dirty” area where the lathe and other machining, sawing, sanding, grinding activities can take place ?
Would that need a different floor covering perhaps, some attempt to physically constrain the dust etc ?
It’s a bit of a small space to constrain anything like dust. I think the rule is - keep your station tidy, and tidy up as soon as you’re done or you’re banned from that equipment.
- Lathe, doesn’t throw it’s material far
- Sanding - no machine-assisted sanding. Hand tools only
- Grinding A - probably not going to be very common, but doesn’t throw material far.
- Sawing - hand-tools only.
- Grinding B - only in the snuggle zone if nobody else complains.
As for floor covering, I like the idea of some lino-style covering. Hard-wearing, easy to clean, and no spillages will make it downstairs.
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