As a consequence of modernisation and upgrading to the highest level of safety, the oil company BP was compelled to merge different control rooms – each responsible for monitoring a different operating process – into a newly designed central space, located in a safe environment. In consultation with the operators, it was decided that these spaces should have a dune landscape theme. The invitation to tender challenged various suppliers to find a creative solution for merging the control rooms into a single operational centre. A commission entrusted by BP to Brand Control Rooms.
Through opting for a dune landscape theme for the new control room, BP wanted to forge a link with the existing head office in Europoort, which is partly enclosed in the dune embankment. This also serves to emphasise BP’s green ambitions. Consequently, the theme was an important demand in the requirements within the total report detailing the pre-limiting conditions that had to be complied with. As a leading manufacturer of made-to-measure furniture, Brand Control Rooms managed to incorporate the theme in the appearance and functional design of the furniture and corresponding acoustic materials that have been used in the control room.
Here, we looked especially at how we could group and merge the different workspaces in such a way that, as a single piece of furniture, they could create the suggestion of a dune landscape. The basis for this concept was laid with five of our Focus Desks. The advantage of these desks is that we can give the pieces any shape we desire. To express the dune landscape theme, we shaped the worktops and technical cabinets in such a way that the furniture can be linked in a wave-like, organic form that is also encountered in the dunes. This effect is strengthened by the acoustic applications, on which dune landscapes are depicted as high-quality images. The integration of real, mummified and maintenance-free planting in the furniture also underpins the theme. The result is an efficiently laid-out workspace, in which multiple pieces of furniture are linked to create a single picture that communicates the theme clearly, improving cooperation between the operators.
