Each side of the keyboards will be the stop knobs. These will be the original Gern knobs, but attached to the modern electric switch and electromagnets which allow then to be operated by the combination pistons.

The reason for this arrangement of the console is exacly the same as that which made Cavaillé-Coll use it; so that the console top could be as low as possible to allow the organist to see over it. In the French tradition, the console was in the gallery, facing forwards, so that the organist could see the Mass over the top. Our plan is to mount the console sideways so that the Altar will be to the right, and the choir or musicians in front, but again, requiring visibility.

Many English organs are made such that the organist has his back to the sanctuary, which allows a high music rest and angled stop jambs, again, reaching very high. With mechanical action, such a layout was much more convenient, but did not always allow the best communication between organist and the action of the Liturgy. The use of electric, pneumatic or electro-pneumatic action frees the designer to choose a different layout.