Laboratory 24

Our space, leased from July 2010. Expanded to the adjacent unit from January 2011.

How to get there

Check out Getting There for info on how to find us.

Access

Paying members have access via an RFID card or tag. If you've just started subscribing, come along when someone else is around and get your card added. Any 13.56MHz (high frequency) card will work, including:

In case of a power cut/emergency, there are three keys.

There are two stairwells in the building: north and south, both have freight and passenger lifts. You can use either. We're on the second floor. The stairwell furthest from the gates is a little closer to car parking spaces and the hackspace, but access to the stairwell in the loading bay is both under cover and adjacent to a goods lift.

Information

Plan of the space - Unit 24

Plans of the space: Accurate plan of unit 24, approximate plan of units 23 and 24, with some areas marked by arrows.

Facilities

Hot and cold water is available, but not strictly drinkable. Filtered drinking water is available via the smaller tap on the big sink in the kitchen.
Three-phase power is available in the room with the laser cutter.
There is a letter box.

See also Infrastructure and Equipment.

Accessibly

The space is fully wheelchair accessible.

The Lift

There's a goods lift next to the loading bay. To operate it, you need to (manually) close the inner and outer doors. If you hear an alarm bell when you press the "lift call" button, it means someone's left the doors open on another floor. Please close both doors after using the lift.

Zones

The room on the far left is designated as a dirty shop, for heavy industrial equipment and anything that generates a significant amount of mess. Please ensure any equipment in here that makes any noticeable amount of noise is on rubber feet. The dirty shop is also the main storage area.

Emergencies

We have a landline phone near the electricity meters that is on an active line.
There is a first aid kit and fire blanket on the wall to your left as you enter the space.
In the event of a fire, please activate the fire alarm - there is an alert button to the right as you exit through the front door of the space.
This alarm is not connected to an autodialer, so please also contact the emergency services.
There are two stairwells available from the front balcony, one in either direction - do not use any of the lifts in an emergency. The rear door leads on to a balcony with a fire escape at the very end.

Locking Up

When leaving, please remember to:

Check that any food is in the bin and all of the washing up is done.
All computers and other appliances (especially soldering irons and heaters) except Babbage (the server) are switched off.
Lock both the rear doors.
Close all the windows (rear windows of unit 24, front windows of unit 23, and those in the toilets).

Local Area

Cash machines

There are four free ATMs nearby:

To the west, outside the Hackney Community College, opposite the cycle station. Turn left out of the gate, cross Kingsland Road, and continue down Falkirk St about a minute. There are two ATMs here: Barclays and HSBC.
To the east, the Tesco Express on Hackney Road. Turn right out of the gate, turn right down Hackney Road, and continue for about two minutes.
To the south, walk down Kingsland road towards the city. There is a Santander ATM outside 'The Grocery' food market, about 30m before the railway bridge.

Nearby shops

C W Tyzack - Hardware Merchants & Ironmongers. 8am-5.30pm Weekdays, 8am-1pm Saturday, closed Sunday.
Travis Perkins - Builders Merchants.
Leyland SDM - DIY store, Great Eastern Street.
Columbia Road Flower Market - quite nice early on a sunday
Neighbours in Cremer Business Centre

Eating & drinking

Supplies

City Beverage Company - good Coffees, Beer, Wine.
Longdan Asian Supermarket - 25 Hackney Road. Wide range of Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese foods, beers, cooking supplies and ready-to-eat snacks including steamed buns.
There's now a Tesco Express on Hackney Road - right out of the gate, right at the end of Cremer Street. Well stocked and well priced, as long as you don't mind buying from The Man.
Food Hall, Old St - fairly expensive delicatessen, with daily bread, soup and coffee. Fun collection of sweets and condiments, too.

Restaurants & Cafes

Song Que Cafe - Vietnamese restaurant (takeaway until 11pm, will take orders over the phone for pickup)
Troy, the nearest cafe on Kingsland Road, sells excellent hot and cold Italian ciabattas, good breakfasts, great Turkish coffee. They also occasionally try to make you eat potatoes. Menu
Saf, further south on Old Street/Curtain Road, vegan, does lots of raw food. Great if you like that sort of thing
Prufrock inside Present, 140 Shoreditch High St - the only place to get a decent coffee. Run by the very lovely Gwilym who has an iPad for calibrating his espresso.
The nearest kebab shop is your standard local. Some sort of Halal qualification hangs on the wall, you can see lahmacun ready for cooking, and they apparently also do scampi.
Simply The Best Fish Bar, 157 Hackney Road.
Viet grill - very good
Red Planet Pizza, 26 Kingsland Road - potato pizza. Need we say more? We have a perpetual two-for-one offer, so don't be afraid to ask.
Due Sardi, 32 Kingsland Road. Italian Stone baked, online order available, and they have a lunchtime special menu.
On Tuesdays we usually make a pizza order from Red Planet (or occasionally Dominos)...