Leading control room furniture manufacturer Winsted has provided custom-designed equipment for Network Rail’s ongoing major overhaul of Birmingham New St station, designed to address problems including significant passenger overcrowding. As the busiest station outside London it was last redeveloped in 1967. Now handling over 140,000 passengers daily – double the number it was designed for – it was dark and unwelcoming, with poor access.
As an approved supplier to contractor WS Atkins, Winsted was awarded the control room furniture tender by the company, which is the overall project lead consultant. Several operational rooms at the station are involved and the furniture provided by Winsted complies fully with Section 12 requirements (fire safety legislation). Sourced from Winsted’s unique range of consoles and related equipment, designed specifically for the rail industry, the order comprises a large L-shaped desk and straight console, along with two smaller consoles in adjacent rooms.
These Section 12 consoles for rail applications consist of modular powder coated steel assemblies and are available as stock items, with Trespa work surfaces that match the console finish. Winsted was also commissioned to manufacture custom storage cabinets in laminated fire retardant MDF.
Commenting on the consoles and ancillary furniture supplied and installed by Winsted, WS Atkins’ Senior Project Engineer Stuart Fenner said the equipment is helping to maximise the control room operators’ monitoring performance:
“We’re very pleased with the specified units, which meet all of the client’s operational requirements,” he added. “The furniture’s modular design also allows for future configuration changes as needs evolve.”
Darryl Lymer from Winsted’s Business Development team, who oversaw the Birmingham New St supply contract, adds that the main control room contains a number of pillars, as well as a ramp for wheel chair access, that had to be worked around. Other specific requirements included storage of CPUs, for which a custom corner unit was made.
