Interesting - I wonder if many other countries employ the very simple system I was used to at several airports where I worked. Runways were represented by bays to hold flight progress strips in front of the controllers. Each bay had a runway designator strip and if a runway was closed for a significant period that runway designator was removed and (usually) handed to the GMC controller. This immediately indicated to the Air controllers that the runway was not available for landing or take-off. Short term closures were covered by the insertion of a red "blocker" strip under the runway designator to warn controllers that the runway could not be used. Simple, but very safe.
Is such a system employed elsewhere?