At the present, lab design tends to focus on increasing the interactions between researchers through the use of open plans, allowing the space and opportunity for researchers to exchange ideas, share equipment, and share storage space; increasing productivity and efficiency of experiments. This style of design has been proposed to support team-based work, though more compartmentalised or individual spaces are still important for some types of processes which require separate/isolated space such as
electron microscopes,
tissue cultures, work/workers that may be disturbed by noise levels, etc. The sustainability of resources is also a concern, so the amount of resources and energy used in the lab should be reduced where possible to save the environment, but still yield the same products. As a laboratory consists of many areas such as wet lab, dry lab and office areas, wet labs should be separated from other spaces using controlling devices or dividers to prevent cross-contamination or spillage. Due to the nature of processes used in wet labs, the environmental conditions may need to be carefully considered and controlled using a
cleanroom system. == See also ==