Case Study CCTV Control Room Furniture for Plymouth City Council
PROJECT OVERVIEW
As part of the relocation and upgrade of the CCTV control room, Thinking Space provided a 3-operator console complete with radio pods as well as two Evolution Media Walls, one for the main control room and one for the road traffic office.
Today, Plymouth City Council maintains over 320 CCTV cameras around the city, helping to prevent crime and socially deviant behavior, and to keep everyone safe. These are monitored in a central control room, managed by Plymouth City Council 24/7, 365 days a year. In 2015, the previous control room in the old Mayflower parking lot was to be demolished to make way for the city’s new coach station. Plymouth City Council transformed a large unused kitchen beneath the Council House into a brand new central control room. This also provided an opportunity to modernize and upgrade the control room technology with the installation of fiber optic cabling for camera networks.
The key requirement in the success of the control room was for all operators to be able to monitor CCTV footage around the city. Therefore, the focus was a large media wall with twelve 47” screens supplying footage from the 300+ cameras located around the city. The technical furniture was specifically designed to support the central focus, with the console being curved to allow 3 operators to view the media wall ergonomically.
The main console was built large enough to accommodate up to 3 operators, spanning nearly 20 feet in length. The chosen finish material was M001 Maryland Clair with black nosing and Platinum Crepe paneling. The worktop is curved to create an ergonomic environment for each operator and to avoid sharp edges in a busy workspace. All rear lower panels are removable to provide access to the void that runs at the rear of the console. This void contains the cable management that runs throughout.
At each end of the console under the desktop is a storage unit complete with a lockable glass door, each capable of holding 2-tower PC units.
The center and right-hand positions are equipped with adjustable monitor mounts for 3 screens with the left-hand end equipped to support 2 screens.
All monitors are mounted on poles at the rear of the worktop allowing space for PCs and telemetry keyboards below. A Moni-Trak is built into the worktop to allow the support columns to be repositioned and for cabling to drop into the cable management below.
In addition, custom-designed equipment pods were provided on the desktop to hold 4 store radios and 2 police radios. Novus Viewmaster Ergo II mounts were also provided to display important information.
At each end of the console under the desktop will be a storage unit complete with a lockable glass door, each capable of holding 2 tower PC units.
Two Evolution Media Walls are provided for this project as a simple and cost-effective solution for mounting monitors. The aluminum framework provides a modern and spacious structure that is strong enough to hold all sized LCD screens. The smooth, curved aluminum legs provide space for cabling runs and power distribution units that can also be provided (costed as optional). Monitor mounts are included within the media wall price along with VESA fixings.
For the main control room application, twelve 47” flat screens are mounted in 2 rows of 6 in a winged arrangement with all cabling hidden behind the screens and down through the legs.
The control room was delivered on time and within budget, with the CCTV control room needing to be in operation throughout the complete relocation. In the first six months of the new control room being operational, over 2,000 incidents were recorded. This ranged from missing people to persons of interest and socially deviant behavior. The operators also received dementia-friendly training and work closely with the police to spot individuals with mental health issues who may become confused and disorientated while in the city.
