Research environments

I work in educational technology - like many computer based subjects, this is a poor topic for research environment - it's basically sitting at your desk. Marine biology, where you _have_ to fly to Barbados or the Great Barrier Reef, that's a good subject. Volcanology also has an inherently interesting research environment ("I'm off to Hawaii again!"). But failing these more exotic subjects, this acoustic research group have this "Noise Barrier Test Facility" at the OU, which appeals to me. It's rather like the research equivalent of a shed. I could imagine going off to it on a damp afternoon and having a cup of tea, listen to the radio and a snooze. And doing important research, of course.