Network Rail - Paddock Wood

Paddock Wood Maintenance and Safety Training Centre. The first of five exciting, state-of-the art training facilities.

Paddock Wood Maintenance and Safety Training Centre (M&STC) was the first of five new centres purpose built by Network Rail for educational purposes, and was prestigiously opened by the Transport Secretary. These M&STC’s were established to standardise training in track and signalling maintenance work, ensuring that Network Rail’s high standards are being met by all relevant employees across the country. As part of the larger project with Network Rail, Squaredot took on the job detailing the design for this initial centre at Paddock Wood, as well as producing concept models for the five centres as a group. 

The centres incorporate a state-of-the-art replication of virtually any trackside environment, indoors. This provides a much safer, and more pleasant, training environment in which to learn in, and is forward-thinking in line with the DNA Guidelines that Network Rail set out. Other influences from the guidelines and the award winning Leadership Development Centre at Westwood were incorporated. This includes social, behavioural and aesthetic values that were designed to achieve Network Rails vision of recruiting, retaining, and continuously motivating their employees. 

One of the main concepts behind the training centre development was to apply the knowledge and experience gained from the previous Network Rail sites, resulting in a group of 60 locations, each with various functions, but all offering a cohesive brand messaging. From Paddock Wood in Kent, all the way up to Sterling in Scotland, these new facilities were designed to cater for the whole of the UK.