Laboratory 24

Our new space, leased from July 2010.

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

Facilities

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

See also Infrastructure

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.

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.
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 the rear door.
Close all the windows (rear windows, and those in the toilets).

Conveniences

ATM

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 road towards the city. There is a Santander ATM outside 'The Grocery' food market, about 30m before the railway bridge.

Nearby stores

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

Song Que Cafe - Vietnamese restaurant (takeaway until 11pm, will take orders over the phone for pickup)
City Beverage Company - good Coffee, 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.
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 decent coffee.
Taste of Bitter Love - café, also with good coffee.
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.
Red Planet Pizza, 26 Kingsland Road - potato pizza. Need we say more?
On Tuesdays we usually make a pizza order from Red Planet (or occasionally Dominos)...