Woking Electrical Control Room (2016)
The Woking Electrical Control Room, a 1936 heritage site, served as a critical hub for managing electricity on the Southern Rail network until 1997. The building is noted for its unique architectural design and historical significance in railway infrastructure.
Why it matters
It provides a historical perspective on industrial engineering and the preservation of mid-20th-century infrastructure.
The Woking control room was built during 1936. One of five control rooms built to control the electricity on the Southern Rail network. A Swedish firm Asean was contracted to construct the flat roof building which was designed by architect James Robb Scott.
Externally a fairly non descript concrete block with some windows houses one of the finest control rooms I have seen. A large oval room with white domed ceiling houses a small central switchboard desk and four decorative cast iron poles each holding up a large copper dish, these light up the room with huge bulbs which resemble a small rugby ball. Other than these five items the room is pretty much empty, however the walls are adorned with black control panels.
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