Control Center Design

Our design principles focus on functionality, efficiency, durability, and reliability.

We carry out the vision detailed in the planning stage by leveraging our architectural and engineering expertise to focus on all aspects of your facility, whether that means designating the best construction material and techniques for your hardened structures, choosing an appropriate HVAC system, or selecting the right type of perimeter fencing.

And, because the unique value proposition from Robert E. Lamb, Inc. features highly integrated planning and design teams, you can expect effective communication and collaboration – key elements to enhanced project continuity, accelerated completion, and budget adherence.

Control Room Ergonomics

Our on-staff experts use detailed guidance from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as a baseline when designing control rooms. We then consider each clients’ unique needs, constraints, and project requirements to arrive at the best custom solution for every project.

We design each control room with optimal operator productivity and ergonomics in mind, incorporating best practices for video displays, lighting, acoustics, consoles, and furniture. For example, we maximize the ability of operators to scan their environment while attending to their responsibilities, and we calculate sight lines to video displays and incorporate them into our designs.

Custom Consoles & Video

Our architects can design custom consoles for your operators, with features that include:

Sit-to-stand capability
Storage options
Integrated task or status lighting
Slat wall or slat bar mounting
Personal environmental controls

To specify the video display systems for your control room, we consider the space available, the amount of information to be displayed, and number and type of input sources.

Resilient Facilities

We include features as needed to protect your control center against natural and man-made threats and to meet your uptime requirements.

Natural Threats

Your critical infrastructure must withstand devastating events such as tornadoes, floods, storm surges, earthquakes, and the like. Our structural engineers specialize in designing hardened infrastructures to withstand EF5 tornadoes, Category 5 hurricanes, and comply with FEMA P-361 safe room design standards.

Man-Made Threats

While protection against intruders, blasts, and other incidents long has been a standard part of our design, we also design to thwart the evolving threat of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to meet emerging guidance and infrastructure standards from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC-CIP). Using state-of-the-art thinking to route damaging surges away from highly sensitive electrical components, we produce specific designs to mitigate the effect of an EMP.

Diagram of control center facility hardening measures

Whichever threats you seek to address, we work with you to provide the desired level of redundancy and resiliency and produce the most cost-effective solution to satisfy your needs.

Secure Sites

Our site designs provide security for the facility and its staff. We incorporate protection at multiple levels, which seeks to delay the advance of any intruder, thus sapping momentum and allowing additional time for responders.

Key site features incorporated into our security designs can include vehicle access control, appropriate building and vehicle standoff distances, anti-climb perimeter fencing, and communication systems.