Chemistry (Inorganic)

Please note: Estates will be reviewing all departments access information via departmental administrators during michealmas 2010. If, in the meantime, you would like to update your information please contact disability@admin.ox.ac.uk. As some of the information is now out of date please use caution when refering to these webpages and contact the department direct for current Access information.

South Parks Road. Tel. (01865) 272600

Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Website

Inorganic Chemistry is used by chemistry students throughout their undergraduate courses and by graduates. The accessible entrance is to the right of the main entrance, and contains a very steep ramp for which assistance would be required. Access is then through double doors. Access throughout the building is via a lift, which meets specification. The lift is not fire retardant, however, and at present there are no fire safe areas. To exit during a fire a person with mobility problems would therefore have to be carried.

Lower Ground floor: The Lower Ground Floor contains the only adapted toilet in the building, which meets all specifications. There is also a counter for ordering chemicals at height 960mm.

Ground floor: Contains an undergraduate lecture room, which has flat access to the front, however is +20 stairs to the back. The lecture room has doors, which are fairly heavy, and assistance may be required. The room contains a loop system.

First Floor: Contains several rooms which have NMRs with strong magnetic fields and which are accessed by steps. A metal wheelchair would not be allowed within two metres of an NMR. However, the department emphasises that NMR studies are largely carried out at computer workstations and there is no reason why, with very little assistance, a disabled student should not carry out a course of NMR studies/research.

Second Floor: Houses labs, study areas, and computer rooms. Some of the benches in the labs are too high, however, the height could be altered.

Third Floor: Contains labs, again with the same height problems.

An additional problem that the department recognises is that of showers, which are placed outside all the labs for use in the event of accidents. The buttons for operation are at present too high but the department has said that it would be willing to change the specifications of the showers.

The department currently has one student with a visual impairment.

Chemical Crystallography

Chemical Crystallography Website

The Chemical Crystallography Lab is used by fourth year chemists and graduate students and is a two-storey building which houses one lab, computer suites, x-ray rooms and offices. The main entrance is +3 stairs. There is an alternative entrance round the side of the building, which is +1, +1 stairs. Both entrances have heavy doors. There are no adapted toilets or lifts.

There are two sides to this kind of Chemistry; experimental or computer-based research. Although the department is willing to make adaptations as necessary, it may be difficult for some adaptations in the experimental labs. These are found on the ground floor, and are small with little room for manoeuvre. They are dominated by large fixed crystallisation equipment with height of 1970mm. There is however access in line with the specifications into a ground floor computing lab. This department will be moving in October 2003 to the New Chemistry Building.

New Chemistry Building

Department of Chemistry Website

The Chemistry Research Laboratory consists of research laboratories housing professorial, academic and post-graduate research personnel and associated administrative, workshop and stores services. Undergraduate teaching will not be undertaken in the building with the exception of Part II Chemistry Students research projects. It is still under construction at the time of writing the building has been designed to comply fully with the requirements of part M of Building Regulations (Access and Facilities for Disabled People).

Externally landscaping includes dropped curves and the provision of textured paving at road/footpath crossings while the nature of the site enables all footpaths to be relatively flat. There are eight disabled parking bays (2800mm wide) immediately to the front of the building shared with the Rothermere Institute for American Studies. From the car park there is ramped access (maximum gradient 1 in 20) to the building's external plinth from which level disabled access to the reception area is gained via the main entrance. The main entrance consists a revolving door and adjacent single leaf door (1000mm wide); the height of swipe card access readers is to be advised. Passenger lifts are accessed from the reception area via a receptionist controlled single powered glass access gate (clear opening width 1000mm).

Where a disabled researcher needs to be accommodated, laboratory space and furniture may have to be specially adapted for such an individual. The building is designed to facilitate access for disabled personnel throughout, including office, service, seminar, and laboratory areas. To facilitate this there is ramped access between the office and laboratory areas of the building and passenger lift access to all floors (internal dimensions 1400mm x 1500mm). In addition, a goods/equipment lift serves all floors (internal dimensions 1950mm x 1700mm). Disabled WC facilities are provided on each floor of the building. Single door leaves are wide enough to facilitate the passage of a wheelchair (780mm wide). The seminar room is of the level non-raked design and with non-fixed seating wheelchairs can be flexibly accommodated.

The following desk and other surfaces are being provided within the scope of the construction project and have the following specifications: the reception counter has two heights, 680mm and 1080mm, the reception desking is at a height of 720mm, the servery counter height is to be specified, coffee making facilities in the informal meeting areas are at a height of 900mm, write up area and office desking has a specified height of 720mm.