Control Room Design Guide

A control room is designed from the operator’s task outwards, not from the furniture inwards. You define what each operator must see, hear and do on every shift, then build the room, consoles, displays and support spaces around that work.

This guide sets out the process we follow at Oculus Operational Innovations. We have designed control rooms since 2009, across mining, energy, process industry, security and utilities, in Southern Africa and the GCC. It is written for owners, project engineers and operations managers who need a room that works on day one and still works ten years later.

In this guide

• The design process, step by step
• Standards that apply
• Common mistakes
• Next step

The design process, step by step

Every Oculus design follows the same twelve steps. Each one fixes a decision that becomes expensive to change later.

1. Brief and task analysis

Start with the work, not the room. We define every operator role, the systems each one uses and how the work changes in an upset or emergency. Everything else is built on this brief.

2. Link analysis

Who needs to talk to whom, and who needs to see what? The answer decides which positions sit together and where the supervisor sits.

3. Space test in the building

Before anyone draws a console, we test whether the space can hold the room and its growth. Moving a room on paper costs very little; moving it after the build costs a great deal.

4. Layout and sightlines

Positions are arranged so every operator sees the overview display without turning, with no traffic behind or in front of them. We check sightlines in plan and in section, seated and standing.

5. Console design

The console is sized around the screens the operator actually needs, not the most that will fit. Computers move out of the room, so the desk stays cool, quiet and easy to maintain. See console and video wall specification.

6. Overview displays and video walls

The video wall is sized to the viewing distance and the content, not to the wall. The test is simple: can the furthest operator read the smallest thing they need to read?

7. Alarm load and HMI hierarchy

A well-built room still fails if the operator is buried in alarms. We review the alarm load and screen hierarchy with the control system team, because they drive the screen count and layout.

8. Environment

Lighting, acoustics, temperature and seating must support alertness at 03:00 as well as at 14:00. A 24/7 room needs 24/7 rated equipment.

9. Supporting spaces

Handover, rest, equipment, incident and backup spaces are planned with the room. They are often cut first when budgets tighten, and missed most later.

10. Specification and tender

We write the specification around performance, not one brand, so suppliers can be compared fairly on the same scope. See industrial control room design.

11. Construction supervision and handover

A design only matters if it is built as drawn. We supervise the build at key stages and check sightlines on site with real people before handover.

12. Live upgrades

Most projects are upgrades, and the room must stay in use throughout. Work is phased so operators always have a working position, with every cutover planned and a fallback ready. See control room upgrades.

Standards that apply

We develop designs with reference to recognised international standards and guidance. We do not certify compliance. Site and owner specifications take precedence over the general documents below.

Local codes. Fire, building, electrical and cyber security codes differ from country to country and change often. We check the applicable codes for each project with the owner and the local authority. For work in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, see control room design in the GCC.

Common mistakes

• Starting with the furniture. Choosing consoles before the task analysis locks in the wrong layout.
• Too many screens. More screens do not mean better control. They mean more places to miss an alarm.
• A video wall sized to the wall. The display should be sized to the viewing distance and the content.
• Ignoring the section. Sightlines that work in plan often fail when you draw the room in section.
• PCs under the desk. Heat, noise and maintenance visits in the operator space. Use KVM and an equipment room.
• Windows behind screens. Glare and reflections for the life of the room.
• No handover space. Shift handover then happens over the shoulder of the operator on duty.
• No upgrade path. Rooms that cannot grow get rebuilt early.
• Tendering on brand, not performance. You lose the ability to compare bids fairly.
• No plan for the live cutover. Upgrades then put operations at risk.

Frequently asked questions

Next step

See how this process has worked on real rooms in our projects. If you are planning a new room or an upgrade, start a project and we will begin with the brief.