How to Create Control Room Design Specifications
The basis of any control room design specification should be based on the International Standard for Ergonomic Design of Control Centers ISO 11064. The document is in 7 parts, part 6 being the main specification.
Before you can use this part 6 of the standard much work needs to be done clarifying the control room requirements.
The International Standard defines a design process which includes five phases:
Phase A: Clarification
Phase B: Analysis & definitions
Phase C: Conceptual design
Phase D: Detailed design
Phase E: Optional feedback
The final design specification will cover two most important aspects, Ergonomic design requirements and Architectural Design Specification which includes construction drawings and detailed materials specification.
During the Clarification Phase feedback will be obtained on any existing control rooms and feedback obtained from the main Users (operators) and Secondary Users (Supervisors, Engineers & Managers) as to what works well I the existing buildings and what should be changed to improve operations.
Users will focus their attention on day-to-day comfort items such as the closeness of the bathrooms, the number of stalls in the toilets, the size, and features of the kitchen. They may need to be challenged to uncover some of the more subtle design issued such as console layouts, room adjacencies, storage space.It is important at this phase to capture all Stakeholder objectives and create a vision for the building over the next 10 – 20 years and how it may have to adapt to changes in technology, personnel, and management changes including the introduction of new equipment or removal of any existing equipment.
It is important at this phase to capture all Stakeholder objectives and create a vision for the building over the next 10 – 20 years and how it may have to adapt to changes in technology, personnel, and management changes including the introduction of new equipment or removal of any existing equipment.
The analysis phase requires experience and understanding of the operations as to where the building should be located, the type of building, any particular requirements such as blast resistant design, the style of building “functional layout or theater design. These options can all be taken forward into a Conceptual Design Phase, but often as much as can be eliminated allows more options in the Conceptual Design Phase that is more suitable to meeting the vision and requirements gathered.
After several proposed designs are sketched, and feedback is obtained from the users on which they like most, and which meets their needs in all phases of their operations, i.e., startup, normal operations, transitions, and shutdowns. A more focused solution may include 3D renderings of what the proposed solution would look like allowing the users to grasp better how space is being utilized.
It is important to consider all options during the Conceptual Design Phase, making changes during the detail design can be very expensive especially the closer the programme gets to construction.
The Design Phase is a mixture of recording ergonomic requirements and architectural design requirements; they must work harmoniously and avoid conflicts, it is important to work closely between the two disciplines. The ergonomics will capture things like viewing angles, seat height, screen height, number of screens, while the architecture will physically locate furniture, walls, ceilings, floors, lighting, air conditioning systems.
The ergonomic study may define a lighting level for a specific room, but the architect will identify how many lighting fixtures and their placement, the architect will address acoustics based on the ergonomic study, lighting based on the same study and environmental controls. Part 6 of the standard will have recommended numbers for these, but they must be validated based on the two disciplines.
The final report will be a mixture of the two disciplines requirements to the builder. It will have a room by room specification which includes lighting levels, a number of power outlets, room temperature, lighting requirements, any windows and avoidance of glare, acoustic requirements, furniture specification, and finishes, colors for walls ceilings, what flooring materials, etc.