The Alchemy Workstation opens up the potion creation menu. It first looks at what alchemy apparatus you have in your storage, and selects the highest quality items before opening the alchemy menu.
If there are no alchemy apparatus in storage, it will look on the player for them. If no mortar and pestle can be found, it won't open up the alchemy menu.
To create a workstation, either place the activator ODOS provides, or create a new Activator and apply the script (ODOSAlchemyWorkstationScript) on the object. Place it in your cell, and parent it to a Room Marker.