I'd rather not go overboard by doubling the wages right from the start, although paying them a bit more (up to 50%) sounds good.
We'll need the extra income and it's better to build up reserves before adding to our expenditures. It's easier to raise wages if we see after a few years that we really can afford it (which would bring another boost to Loyalty), rather than risk having to reduce them because we can't meet our monetary obligations (that would be very bad for Loyalty).
Do we still have 9 magi? We recently discussed the fact that two of the players hadn't posted in a while. So I'm not sure how many we are at this time.
Maximilian thinks he can do a better job at enchanting his own lab than anyone else could (Proud flaw), so he will only want it good enough to get the Superior Construction lab virtue. And sufficient space for a Size +3 lab. 
BTW, lab improvements are quite efficient at sucking out excess income. A lab with +5 Upkeep costs 15 pounds per year just to keep it running 2 seasons per year. As opposed to a normal lab, which costs only 1 pound per year. And you can be sure that Maximilian plans on improving his lab. :mrgreen:
As for the order in which we will want the labs built, I think this should be based on need. Obviously, younger magi will spend most of their time reading books at first, so they might not need labs as much. Older magi will need their labs sooner. So will lab rats (including my Verditius).
We may consider a shared lab initially, which could be used by anyone who doesn't have his own built and installed yet. After that, the shared lab could be used for visitors. Installing the shared lab might count as covenant service.
Which leads me to another subject, which may deserve its own topic: The covenant's Charter.