Steampunk Commander, Belgium

Steampunk Commander is a vintage powerplant control room in Belgium. The building stands alone, within an active commercial site that is still home to engineering and logistics companies. The exterior is red-brick, with a subtle Art Deco design evident in the prominent arched windows.  This site was not a full-time powerplant, and was part of an emergency supply network to provide power during consumption peaks or in the event of another power plant failure.

Electricity was produced via steam-powered turbines running on naphtha (a liquid produced from a mixture of hydrocarbon condensates and distillates). The turbine blades would be started up via a blast from a large compressed air tank, enabling rapid spin-up of the turbines to the generation threshold without any power input required. A benefit of this type of turbine was that they could power-up and operate at full efficiency in less than two minutes, making them perfect for providing additional power at short notice. The turbine halls and most of the building has been completely stripped out.

On a mezzanine floor overlooking the empty turbine hall is the Steampunk Commander control room. The historical Art Deco control room has walls lined with navy blue control panels, with many levers and dials. In the centre of the room is a heavy wooden desk, two up-turned dials have been removed from the walls and placed on it. They give the impression of top hats sitting on the desk, which matches the Steampunk aesthetic of the room. The control room is well lit by large windows and skylights, giving a wonderful late afternoon ambient lighting.

After failing at this location earlier in the year, I was very pleased to finally get inside in the early summer of 2016. The subtle colours and strikingly simple wooden desk make this small room well worth the re-visit.