[D-Space] Notes from seeing the proposed room

[Blair McBride]

Alex, Paul, and I met at the King Edward Technical College today, to get 
a tour of the larger of the two rooms available there. I think that room 
would work out quite nicely. Here's some general notes about it:

* Its big. Its bigger than what the photos make it look like. There's 
enough space for a large group of people (30-40) to be in there doing 
stuff, without crowding each other. I think it offers plenty of space to 
grow into, without it being ridiculously big.
* Lots of light. Lots of windows = lots of natural light.
* The lights are chained up close to the high ceiling, but can be let 
down so they're not so far away. They could potentially be moved too, if 
we want them closer to specific areas.
* Lots of power outlets along one wall (the long wall with all the 
windows) - it'd make sense to have desks/benches along this wall. The 
opposite wall (where the heat pump is) has only 2 (I think) power outlets.
* We can draw 20A max from all the power outlets. The heatpump is on a 
separate circuit, so doesn't count against that 20A.
* Because of the size of the room, and height of the ceiling, and the 
brick walls, the sound echoes a bit. I found it quite noticeable with 
just 5 people in the room. I think it wouldn't be so noticeable with 
more people, added furniture, and people not talking so loudly.
* There is a storage room full of various bits of furniture (desks, 
tables, chairs, and maybe shelves) that are available to be used.
* There can be an outside (under cover) area made available for 
activities that we wouldn't want to do inside (eg, wielding).
* Toilets are not a long walk away.
* There is a heatpump, and it can be set on a timer. The radiators seen 
in the photos are not connected to anything, so will not work.
* The floor felt stable (sometimes a worry in old buildings).
* There's a tea-room upstairs somewhere, but we didn't go see it.
* There's a sink in the room, with running cold water, and under-sink 
storage.

- Blair