Kent Integrated Control Centre
Network Rail
project
The project was to refurbish the existing Network Rail and Southeastern Control Centre which is located on the fourth floor of a 1980's building in London SE1. The client requirement was that the design should show a measurable development from the existing design and be broadly consistent with the design and approach to the other recently completed Network Rail Integrated Control Centres.
Implementation
The control and operation functions were supported by 33 workstations with the control room footprint being extended to provide an Incident/Meeting Room, a Network Comms Room, a locker room, a kitchen with full cooking facilities and an area to accommodate an additional 5 workstations for the Performance Delivery Team.
Cabling to the workstations is via the existing 200mm raised floor which was utilised to provide an underfloor ventilation system. The floor to ceiling height of 2600mm was retained owing to the large amount of existing services within the ceiling void. The main challenge of the project was the phasing of the works to enable the control room to be fully functional 24/7 throughout the refurbishment.
Outcome
The Project was completed in April 2009.
Operations were not compromised during the works and the refurbishment was completed within demanding timescales.
The operational staff are pleased with the new design; the working environment has been significantly improved and the new layout of furniture, equipment and rooms has enabled the implementation of some important organisational changes. For example, working groups have been brought closer together allowing them to work more autonomously and their management team to adopt a more strategic role.