Integrated Operations Center

The client challenged BAW Architecture to design a complex that would consolidate six existing control rooms across the country into one spectacular facility, located in a high-tech business park adjacent to the ocean. The Integrated Operations Center would attract top talent from within the country and around the world, with state-of-the-art technology, design, and sweeping views of the sea.

Deriving inspiration from the country’s rich maritime history, the “compass in a box” became the foundation of this creative design solution, delivering on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to elevate and modernize the country’s energy sector.

The goal of this consolidation project centered around improved communication between field and control room staff. All data is simultaneously visible to the operators and operations support, achieved through the implementation of cutting-edge technology. The building also houses various cultural, administrative, and collaboration spaces.

BAW recommended a Task Analysis, pursuant to ISO 11064‐3 requirements. The goal was to mitigate potentially dangerous outcomes associated with high-density floorplans. These can include obstructed visibility, noise, distraction, fatigue, communications and workflow issues, and situational awareness failures. Adjacencies studies and a functional analysis were critical to properly design the centralized control room, both for size and layout. As with all BAW designs, human factors engineering elements that puts the needs of the operators at the center informed all aspects of the project. Recommendations were made for ancillary spaces—such as break and meeting rooms, server, electrical, mechanical, and storage rooms—to also be subject to a task analysis, to arrive at the correct sizing of each room based on building codes and actual furnishings for each room type.

Room for future expansion was also taken into account. Per ISO 11064‐3 section 4.2.1.3, any control room design must be able to accommodate future growth of 25% at a minimum.

The design features living plants and natural light, complimented by wall-size images of the local landscape. It is an elegant, forward-thinking, yet durable solution, a control building that will positively impact safety, quality of life, and the bottom line for decades to come.