System 5 is designed for maximum flexibility where overbench reagent shelving may be required.
The only fixed elements on the laboratory floor are the MDF services ‘bollards’, which contain all the required laboratory services — power, data, telephone and gases and the ‘spines’ connecting the bollards, which can be fitted with troughs and drip cups if required.
Movable modular benches, workstations, sink benches and floor-standing equipment can be placed at the required locations against the ‘spine’. Reagent shelves, if required, can be placed between the MDF bollards. They can easily be moved if a large item of bench-mounted equipment requires the extra depth.
The increasing need for an accessible underbench services duct has seen this system be superseded by System 6