6 Key Design Concepts for Forensic Mental Health Facilities

By Craig Blewitt and Andrew Greig

Cover Image: Glenside Mental Health Campus, Swanbury Penglase and MAAP Architects

It is well understood that prisoners, as a group, have significantly worse health than the general population with research confirming that prisoners have higher rates of mental illness, substance use disorders, personality disorders, intellectual disability, acquired brain injuries, autism and cognitive impairment. Studies have shown that, compared to the general community, prisoners are:

• 3-5 times more likely to have a mental illness [1]

• 10-15 times more likely to have a psychotic disorder [2]

• 20 times more likely to have an acquired brain injury [3]

Studies have also shown that 42% of prisoners have a psychiatric risk rating indicating mental health concerns [4].

The challenge in most jurisdictions is that there are few, if any, purpose built forensic mental health facilities; and where they do exist, demand greatly outstrips supply. As a result, many prisoners with acute mental health concerns are placed in accommodation that only serves to aggravate their mental health conditions. Some of the most moving and emotional project briefings we’ve experienced have been for specialist mental health facilities, where experienced custodial and forensic mental health staff have had tears in their eyes as they’ve spoke about some of the individual cases where they’ve been unable to find an appropriate place for some prisoners, which has at times led to tragic outcomes.

So how do we as designers make a difference for mentally ill offenders?

How can the design of mental health facilities aid recovery?

Here is a list of 6 proven design strategies that we’ve employed in our projects to create therapeutic mental health environments that aid recovery and rehabilitation.

1. Design for Therapy

Our physical environment is constantly influencing our emotions and general well-being. The layout of a room, space or building directly affects a patient’s perception of safety and privacy and impact their willingness to self-disclose and to build therapeutic rapport with clinicians and therapists. Poor layouts can exacerbate feelings of otherness, reduce communication, and have poor therapeutic outcomes.

Thomas Embling Mental Health Hospital, MAAP Architects & DesignInc

Careful consideration of the layout and amenity of a room is especially important for spaces where therapy and counselling services are facilitated. Consideration of colour, materials, lighting, aspect and furnishings can all help to create a comfortable therapeutic experience for emotionally vulnerable individuals.

The integration of sensory modulation elements that utilise weighted, movement, tactile, vibrating, squeeze, and auditory modalities to manage distress and agitation is a proven approach to regulate and de-escalate patient behaviours.

Effective sensory modulation practice increases service users’ awareness of their sensory preferences and assists them to manage their arousal through the application of sensory strategies. [5]

2. Prospect & Refuge

‘Prospect-Refuge’ is a theory that postulates that primal man is predisposed psychologically to like places where they can see without being seen, because their survival often depended on it. In a forensic mental health facility context, this means the creation of spaces where passive and discreet means of observation are utilised to reduce a patient’s perception of being watched.

Ginger Curtis on urbanologydesigns.com

Within indoor and outdoor communal spaces, the placement of furniture against walls and in smaller groups can create pockets of privacy where patients can withdraw themselves and have a sense of safety and seclusion. Long distance views to landscape areas beyond the communal spaces can further enhance the sense of prospect and comfort. Within bedrooms, the placement of beds against walls with a clear line of sight to the door, can help to provide a sense of physical security and comfort for patients with heightened paranoia.

3. Space

The size of indoor and outdoor communal spaces should be generous to enable patients to move around within the unit without feeling crowded or overly constrained.

The need for space cannot be overemphasised as a means of reducing the potential for aggressive behaviour, by way of wide corridors and recreation areas large enough to avoid crowding. [5]

The dayroom and courtyard spaces of forensic mental health facilities should be designed to facilitate communal gatherings of the cohorts within each unit but should also incorporate smaller pockets of privacy that patients can withdraw to whilst still being observed by custodial or clinical staff. The scale and volume of communal spaces should be varied to provide interest and to cater for the differing social and sensory preferences of the patients.

Ravenhall Correctional Centre, Guymer Bailey Architect. Photography by Scott Burrows

4. Natural Light and Artificial Lighting

Integral to biophilic design is the provision and quality of natural and artificial lighting, including the impact that lighting has on circadian rhythms.

Variations in ambient illumination impact behaviours such as rest during sleep, and activity during wakefulness, as well as their underlying biological processes. Rather recently, the availability of artificial light has substantially changed the light environment, especially during evening and night hours with nocturnal electric lighting shown to alter circadian rhythms and sleep patterns. On the other hand, light can also be used as an effective and non-invasive therapeutic option, to improve sleep, mood and general well-being.

Recently we have been working with lighting controls that adjust the colour tone and brightness of electric lighting to reflect natural lighting, and this has been shown to assist in regulating circadian rhythms, normalising sleep patterns and reducing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

5. Connection to Nature

Windows of bedrooms and communal living spaces that are positioned to capture views to landscape areas beyond the building have been shown to help to regulate patient behaviour. Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes patients feel better emotionally, it contributes to their physical wellbeing, reduces blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones.

The best form of interior design is a window!

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre, Guymer Bailey Architects. Photography by Scott Burrows

Courtyards should be designed to reduce the patients’ sense of being contained and provide some form of sensory stimulus such as textured ground surfaces, shaded areas and attractive but sturdy fixed furniture. Where permitted by spatial and security constraints, raised garden beds, grassed terraces and undulations in the ground plane should be considered to create more defined spaces within the landscape providing they do not hinder passive surveillance.

6. Acoustics

Ravenhall Correctional Centre, Guymer Bailey Architect. Photography by Scott Burrows

The acoustic environment of a correctional centre is unique. Due to the need for the buildings to be constructed from robust, hard wearing and durable materials; communal spaces, corridors, cells and bedrooms generally have high reverberation rates. As a result, the sound of buzzing electric locks, clanging heavy steel doors, conversations and even footsteps are amplified throughout the patient areas.

Whilst this may just be an annoying nuisance for some, it can also be a recurring trigger that causes the behaviour of patients with a mental health illness to escalate. As such, special consideration is provided to managing acoustic reverberation within mental health and high needs units through careful use of appropriate absorptive material, design that avoids rectangular forms and acoustic separation between spaces.

What does the future hold?

With increasing community recognition of mental health conditions and the reduction in the stigma associated with treatment, the need for mental health services across all segments of the community will continue to grow. As the demand rises, there will be an ongoing need for new specialist facilities designed to cater for the unique needs of patients with a wide range of mental health conditions; as well as a need to upgrade existing facilities to introduce best practice rehabilitative design.

References

1. Victorian Ombudsman Report (2014).  Investigation into deaths and harm in custody, p.111.

2. Victorian Ombudsman Report (2015) - Investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria, p. 32.

3. Victorian Ombudsman Report (2015) - Investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria, p. 34.

4. Victorian Ombudsman Report (2014).  Investigation into deaths and harm in custody, p.114.

5. Sensory Modulation in Acute Mental Health Wards : Te Pou

Visualisation in Correctional Architecture

By Mitchell McDonald Roberts

Visualisation in correctional architecture can sometimes be overlooked, after all, what purposes do pretty pictures have in building prisons? However, visualisation serves a pivotal and surprisingly wide-ranging function when it comes to creating correctional facilities. Below I have outlined four, sometimes unexpected, ways visualisation helps us design, co-ordinate, and build better correctional facilities.

1. Conceptual Visualisation

Up until recently (historically speaking), architectural visualisations were created by pen and pencil, inked out by specialists commissioned by architects, to understand how their work would fit into the real world. With the advent of the computer and digital modelling, visualisation has become increasingly accessible to architects. Smart designers and firms quickly understood the value of fast and dirty, early stage renders to showcase form, materials, and context. On the back of efficient and high-quality 3D modelling, Guymer Bailey creates still images, walkthroughs, and virtual tours to aid in the design process. 

In correctional architecture, concept visualisations in the early stages of a project allow us to accurately understand our architecture in the way physical models did in previous eras. How does the sun impact our most sensitive spaces? How do adjacent buildings affect sightlines and sun shading? In what ways do materials affect the feel of our mental health facilities? 

In the early stages of a correctional project, Guymer Bailey focuses on accurately modelling our architectural, interior, and landscape concepts in 3D. Because of this rigor, it allows us to more comprehensively, and quickly, explore our project in a rendered environment, giving us better, real time, feedback. 

Render accuracy is extremely important, particularly in the early design phases, since detailed and well-executed visuals can denote issues and allow designers, engineers, and builders to anticipate potential complications that would otherwise require project compromises. A quality render can become a tool to getting the desired result at completion.  

- Hana Abdel "Renders vs. Reality, Projects From Renowned Architects: Before and After"

2. Visual Coordination

Pretty visualisations have their place, but on a day-to-day basis we need to understand how our building works, and so does our consultant team. Correctional architecture presents a myriad of technical and construction challenges that differ from other architectural typologies.

Services co-ordination, security integration, construction methodology, structural efficiency, just to name a few, are all far more critical to get right in the early stages of the project.  Employing visualisation for things like clash detection with services, understanding security sight lines, and staff/inmate experience, can help us find issues sooner and communicate solutions more easily.

3. Staff and Visitor Experience 

Up until now, we have discussed how visualisation can help the architect and the greater consultant team, but there’s a crucial group we are missing, and that's the operators and users of our correctional facilities. Staff, visitors, and key stakeholders are an important forethought in prison design, so how can visualisation help these groups? 

 “By virtually prototyping a space, facilities operators can get a good sense of how the facility will be like to walk through and to engage with.”

- Gohta Shiraishi, Senior Interior Designer, Guymer Bailey

Systems such as VR, virtual tours, and 360-degree panoramas, allow groups such as emergency response teams, security officers, health workers, and administration staff to accurately understand the spaces they will be occupying before it exists.  Riot control teams can understand and practice entering spaces and executing manoeuvres in virtual reality. Security officers can understand sightlines from officer posts and dayrooms. Admin staff can appreciate the visitor process and navigation more easily.

4. Building Excitement

Prisons aren't just for prisoners, there are also a huge amount of people invested in the quality outcome of a correctional project. As great as the pragmatic uses of visualisation are, having beautiful images and videos of correctional projects generates excitement. This allows the public and stakeholders to understand where their money is going, displaying the new facility to potential staff, and showing the onsite construction team what they are working towards, which is something that is frequently overlooked.

Forensic Mental Health Design: The Master Planning and Design of the Ravenhall Correctional Centre

With statistics from the National Mental Health Commission showing that prisoners are 2-3 times more likely to have mental illnesses and 10-15 times more likely to have a psychotic disorder, the Ravenhall Correctional Centre was a game-changer in the delivery of mental health services and prisoner rehabilitation.

The Ravenhall Correctional Centre, which opened in 2017, also included the design of the Ballerrt Yeram-boo-ee Centre, the largest prison-based mental health facility in Australia.

Due to the focus on rehabilitation, the Ravenhall Correctional Centre caught the interest of Dr. Elizabeth Grant CF, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at RMIT University.

Dr Grant’s paper, ‘RAVENHALL CORRECTIONAL CENTRE: THE MASTER PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF A MULTIFACETED, PEOPLE-ORIENTED PRISON FOR MEN WITH COMPLEX PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA’ has since been published in the Advancing Corrections Journal: Edition #9-2020.

Guymer Bailey Architects Director, Kavan Applegate, lead designer on the Ravenhall Correctional Centre, had the privilege of assisting Dr Grant with her research.

Kavan, who has a passion for rehabilitative correctional design is acutely aware of the crucial role design plays in creating an environment that makes rehabilitation and treatment both possible and desirable.

In his words, “Our environment changes how we interact with others and how we view ourselves. The master planning of secure accommodation needs to create communities that are engaging, uplifting, and interactive, and communicate a sense of safety and security, so prisoners are more likely to engage in rehabilitation and education programs.”

You can download Dr Grant’s full paper on Ravenhall through Academia and find part of the Abstract below.

“People with mental health issues are vastly overrepresented in the Australian prison system. This paper discusses the master planning and design of Ravenhall Correctional Centre in Victoria, Australia to increase outcomes for male prisoners living with physical, mental health disability and other conditions.

Major innovations in the design of Ravenhall Correctional Centre have included a forensic mental health unit on site, and the master planning of the prison into separate communities with a variety of housing types to provide prisoners opportunities to experience various levels of self-care and greater autonomy. The prison was designed to increase feelings of wellness, to provide program and training spaces to service various groups, and to allow prisoners to experience greater levels of individual control.

The project is discussed through an architectural lens to allow readers to understand the complexities of master planning and designing a major people-oriented, multi-faceted prison with a forensic mental health unit within the perimeter. The paper notes that large scale prisons may be designed in a more therapeutic manner where accommodation, facilities and programs can provide prisoners opportunities to connect with external environments, engage in meaningful activities and retain a level of autonomy and individual control.”

Read the full paper here.

Photography credit: Scott Burrows Photographer

Why harsh prison environments are not the answer

As leaders in correctional architecture, we often get a lot of questions around designing correctional facilities. One question that continually comes up is “shouldn’t prisons be harsh, so it’s a deterrent to committing crime?”

With this in mind, we thought we’d chat to director, Kavan Applegate the lead designer on Australia’s most innovative correctional projects, and Senior Architect and correction design specialist Paul Hayes to find out why their answer is a resounding “no”.

People are products of their environment

Kavan:

Our environment has a profound effect on us. It changes how we interact with others and how we view ourselves. Making an environment harsher will not help create a better person.

Every prisoner released will be interacting with society. So, my view starts with the foundational question of “what do we want those individuals to be like when they are back into the community, and what is the optimum environment to create the best citizens and neighbours?

The cycle needs to be broken

Kavan:

Good prison design must support prison operations to educate and rehabilitate prisoners so that they can create a better life. If life in prison is better than their life outside, it’s not because life inside is too good, but they need to be helped to make their life outside better than the life they have inside. A race to the bottom to make prisons worse than a drug and violence-filled life outside is counter-productive.

According to the Victorian Ombudsman 40% of all Victorian prisoners have been identified as having a mental health condition and prisoners are 10 to 15 times more likely to have a psychotic disorder than someone in the general community*. Prisoners are also often the victims of a violent upbringing, trauma and fetal alcohol syndrome. Creating a harsh environment won’t stop people with this background from committing crimes.

Prisoners are not committing crimes in a considered way of “If I do this, will I get away with it?” or “If I get caught then prison’s not so bad…” Research shows that crime is more driven from desperation, poor impulse control, or cognitive inability to make good decisions. Making a prison harsher doesn’t help that either.

Paul:

Over 1/3 of the prisoner population are homeless when they enter prison, and that percentage increases to 60-80% for people leaving prison. The comment “make the prison a nice place to be, at times often better than their home life and they’ll re-offend”, may be true in areas where homelessness is more prevalent, but this would be a sad state of affairs. Prison needs to be a place where rehabilitation can take place, and prisoners learn the skills, they need to make their outside life better.

Prisoners are not the only people within a correctional facility

Kavan:

What often gets forgotten is that staff have to work in these spaces. Imagine what it would be like as a staff member going inside every day into a harsh, lifeless facility where there’s an “us” and “them” mentality between staff and prisoners.

Plenty of research shows that this not only decreases mental health, it also increases staff suicide rates, heart disease, blood pressure and family breakdown. Some of the stories I’ve heard are gut-wrenching. On the other hand, when a rehabilitative approach is taken through the design and management of a correctional facility, the impact of change for staff when things are improved makes me teary for all the right reasons.

*Source: Victorian Ombudsman Investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria 2015.

Guymer Bailey Announced Principal Consultant on Southern Queensland Correctional Centre

The Minister for Corrective Services, Mark Ryan, has announced Guymer Bailey Architects as the successful Principal Consultant for the new Southern Queensland Correctional Centre project near Gatton.

“I’m pleased to have Guymer Bailey Architects on board, as they have extensive experience in designing major infrastructure projects. When completed, this state-of-the-art facility will deliver approximately 1,000 beds for male prisoners. It will mean safer, less crowded, more effective prisons statewide, which will help reduce recidivism and keep communities safer.” he said.

Guymer Bailey Architects have been the lead design consultant on many of Australia’s most innovative correctional projects including the Hopkins Correctional Centre, Ravenhall Correctional Centre and Chisholm Road Prison Project.

Guymer Bailey Directors, Phil Jackson and Kavan Applegate, expressed that the team are thrilled to be working with the Queensland Government on the new Southern Queensland Correctional Centre.

“With the prisoner population growing across Australia, it’s vital that the current and future design of prisons have a greater focus on rehabilitation to reduce recidivism rates, we’re excited to be bringing this rehabilitative approach to the design of the new Southern Queensland Correctional Centre.” Phil Jackson said.

“The physical environment of a prison influences prisoners, staff, and visitors in a myriad of ways. This leaves us as architects of correctional facilities with a great opportunity, but also a substantial responsibility.” Kavan Applegate said.

According to Minister Ryan, the $618.8 million, 1000-bed facility is a landmark infrastructure project for the Palaszczuk Government and a historic investment in security safety.

The project, which is planned for completion in 2022-23, will be led by Guymer Bailey Associate Craig Blewitt, who specialises in creating therapeutic environments that promote rehabilitation.

“The design will utilise evidence-based practices to reduce recidivism through enhanced mental health, drug and alcohol rehabilitation services,” he said.

The new Southern Queensland Correctional Centre is the first new correctional centre built in Queensland since 2012. 

At the forefront of rehabilitative design

As prisoner numbers in Australia continue to break records rising 40% since 2012*, greater focus is being placed on reducing recidivism rates among offenders. With more than 20 years in the design, documentation and construction of prisons, leading correctional architect Kavan Applegate, believes the key to minimising recidivism rates is in rehabilitative design.

As the lead design consultant on many of Australia’s most innovative correctional projects including the $200 million Hopkins Correctional Centre expansion and the multi-award winning $670 million Ravenhall Prison Project, Kavan Applegate knows how crucial architecture is in secure environments.

 “Our environment has a profound effect on us. It changes how we interact with others and how we view ourselves. It reasons, therefore, that the physical environment of a prison influences prisoners, staff, and visitors in a myriad of ways. This leaves us as architects of correctional facilities with a great opportunity, but also a substantial responsibility.” Kavan said.

He continues, “Research demonstrates that if prisoners feel safe, they are more likely to engage in rehabilitation and education programs. With this in mind, master planning of secure accommodation needs to create communities that are engaging, uplifting, and interactive, and also communicate a sense of safety and security.”

Ravenhall Correctional Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Despite his strong passion for rehabilitative design, the Melbourne-based architect and director of multi-award winning architecture, landscape architecture and interior design practice, Guymer Bailey Architects, hasn’t always specialised in correctional architecture, in fact, getting into it was “by accident” he explains.

“I started to see the size and complexity of some of the correctional projects in the office and was keen to get involved. Once I started, I never escaped.”

While many people may wonder how design could have such a profound impact in the correctional environment, Kavan is resolved, to change behaviour, you must improve the environment. 

“As part of our design strategy for secure environments we create normalised environments as much as possible, so there is less institutionalisation, and the transition out of the prison system is easier. Increased access to daylight and external spaces, and minimising unnecessary auditory pollution are methods of decreasing stress levels and subconscious anxiety. They also enhance the likelihood of improved sleep, which is another key factor in improving physical and mental health.”

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

He continues, “A calm physical environment is more likely to be a safe and secure environment. The removal of hiding spots through increased passive surveillance and clever planning solutions improve security and this, in turn, decreases user anxiety. Lighting solutions with optimal uniformity are more secure and help to create more pleasant spaces. We place a lot of emphasis on interfacing the design with the operational needs. And on this basis, a high-quality rehabilitative prison operating philosophy, combined with a rehabilitative design is the optimum framework for rehabilitative outcomes.”

According to Yvonne Jewkes, Professor of Criminology at the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, the main difference in Kavan’s approach is that he understands that good architecture is designing not for prisoners, but for people.

“Kavan is unusual, in my experience of prison architects, at least, in that his designs are underpinned by clinical and social scientific research evidence. Designing prisons to rehabilitate offenders is not easy, because of the systemic, structural and social disadvantages that most prisoners come from, and return to, on release from custody. Kavan understands this, but he also believes that prison design can make a profound difference to rehabilitative outcomes.”

She continues, “In part, it is about making practical decisions concerning where to situate key workers like prison officers, psychologists and teachers in relation to prisoners, how many workshops and classrooms are required, how prisoner movement can be facilitated to allow a degree of autonomy and choice, and so on. But these things are also about treating prisoners with decency, dignity and respect to help them on their rehabilitative journey.”

Hopkins Correctional Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

According to Kavan, there will be a more significant push towards rehabilitative design in corrections as the government continues to combat rising prisoner numbers moving forward.

"We have seen notable changes in Australian correctional architecture, and many of these are State-based. Design in some States is definitely moving toward a more rehabilitative approach, especially influenced by Public Private Partnership (PPP) prison projects. The aim for ‘normalisation’ of correctional architecture has had a lot of traction, and in the future I believe this will significantly increase, drawing from contemporary education, university accommodation, and specialised health and mental health typologies."

He continues, "Counter to this, there has been a significant increase in the number of remand prisoners throughout Australia, which has required additional accommodation to be quickly put to market, often within existing secure facilities. This increase in bed numbers within an existing secure perimeter often results in more segregation of prisoner cohorts to manage prisoner movements and congregations. It is then incumbent on the skills of correctional architects to do all possible to retain or enhance the rehabilitative focus in even more contained and intense environments."

Statistic source: *Corrective Services, Australia, June quarter 2018, Australian Bureau of Statistics http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4512.0

The importance of considering staff wellbeing in correctional design

If you are like most people, when you think of prisons, you think of the prisoners and the importance of keeping them inside to prevent further hurt or disruption to society.

While the quality of the built environment plays a big role in achieving this, it is the correctional staff, the people who come into prison every day to carry out their job successfully, that make the biggest difference in running an efficient and effective correctional facility.

It will come as no surprise that correctional work can take a big toll on staff, with many experiencing daily physical and mental stress. The effects of these pressures can also have a significant impact on staff morale, performance and turnover. Staff in a secure environment don’t have the luxury of stepping outside the workplace for their lunch break or picking up their mobile phone to speak to someone for a few minutes to clear their head either, as many of us do.

For this reason, the environment and facilities provided for staff are even more important than in a regular workplace. So how, as designers, can we ensure prison designs consider not only the security and rehabilitation of prisoners but also the wellbeing and performance of staff?

To tackle this question, I spoke with a medical practitioner who recently completed some seasonal work in a prison, to see how the design and build environment had impacted her day-to-day at work.

Connection to nature

According to the medical practitioner, it can be hard to forget you are in a correctional environment.

““While some meeting rooms can feel like you are in a regular office building, it can be hard to escape the environment that surrounds you. The staff tearoom and other staff areas still feel like you are in a prison due to the views of walled courtyards, staff in uniform and codes being called over the PA.” ”

When asked what would help with the mental and physical strain of the job? It was a connection to nature.

In his book, Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection, Stephen Kellert states, that work settings with attributes such as natural lighting and natural ventilation can improve worker satisfaction, enhance performance and reduce stress.

The ability for workers to see the sun, sky and trees can provide mental space through the day and the energy and connection that is often be lacking in these spaces.

Window placement and fence design

Another challenge revealed in the interview was the placement of windows. While they can provide a connection to daylight spaces and the outside environment, if they aren't placed well, they won't be utilised.

““Where I worked, the window placement allowed prisoners to see into our office space if we had the blinds up. This was uncomfortable for both parties – them watching us and us watching them. As a result, we often kept the blinds down.””

To avoid the situation from happening, it is essential for designers to carefully consider the positioning of staff areas in buildings and the relationship to prisoner areas. If possible, landscaping should be used to create visual barriers between staff and prisoners. Trees and planting outside windows can revitalise and inspire staff, especially in break areas.

It is also good to push the boundaries with fencing. Designers need to think beyond the standard brick or blockwork fence and find materials that are robust, safe and secure, but don’t have the institutional feel.

Materials that contrast the grey of blockwork and concrete

The overall design of the prison can also have an impact on staff. Prisons are getting bigger and, in many ways, becoming mini-cities with different building types and functions being carried out. Choosing materials that contrast the grey of blockwork and concrete can create a visual difference that eases the eye as they navigate different areas.

Abigail Wild, an undergraduate student of neuroscience, with a PhD/MPhil Criminology from Cambridge, states that "The material does not have to be of the natural kind but can be a representation." Due to the limiting material choices in a secure environment, using biophilic design principles to help improve health and wellbeing of users can be opened up by the idea of materials providing a representation of the natural world to provide contrast against the grey concrete.

To create spaces that consider the wellbeing of correctional staff, designers must continue to push the boundaries and acknowledge the trends and changes in traditional office design to see what can be utilised in a secure environment.

Not only will this have a positive effect on staff wellbeing and performance, but it will also have a positive impact on prison operations.

About the Author

Alexandra Kennedy is a registered architect and a valued member of our correctional design team. With over ten years’ experience in architectural design, documentation and contract administration, Alexandra has managed projects of varying scales, across multiple sectors in both Queensland and Victoria. She brings a creative yet methodical approach to design and enjoys the challenge of managing complex projects and collaborating with multiple consultants.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the role it plays in correctional design

By Craig Blewitt

Have you ever noticed how some built spaces feel inherently comfortable and homely, and others can feel unwelcoming and unnerving? From a design perspective, there are many factors behind this dichotomy – scale, materiality, orientation to name but a few.

As designers, we always aim to create comfortable and welcoming spaces, but have you ever paused to wonder how that feeling of being truly comfortable is created on a psychological level? Instead of thinking about what a place needs for us to feel comfortable, perhaps we should be asking the reverse - what do we need to feel comfortable in a place?

If you’ve ever taken an introductory psychology class, you’ve more than likely heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up. If we start at the bottom of the hierarchy and move upwards, the needs are physiological, safety, love or belonging, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualisation and transcendence.

The bottom four needs are characterised as deficiency needs. These needs arise from deprivation and are said to motivate people when the need is unmet. The motivation to fulfil deficiency needs becomes stronger, the longer they are denied. For example, the longer you go without food, the hungrier you are. The top four needs are characterised as growth needs. These stem not from the lack of something, but from a desire to grow as a person.

All sounds a bit too cryptic and abstract? Stick with me; it gets interesting when you apply this theory to the buildings and spaces we live in and view their design through this lens. For me, it gets even more interesting when you apply the theory to my area of expertise, the design of correctional facilities.

In many ways, the hierarchy that Maslow has given to human needs mirrors the progression that we aim for prisoners to experience during their time inside. Firstly, they are given accommodation and a place in which they hopefully feel safe (the basic needs).

Then, through programs and counselling, they try to repair relationships and rebuild their sense of self-esteem (the psychological needs). Finally, with education and rehabilitative support, prisoners hopefully reach a point where they have the skills and confidence to rejoin society upon their release (the self-fulfilment needs).

If the ultimate goal is for prisoners to progress to through the needs to reach the self-actualisation stage (rehabilitation) and the transcendence stage (helping others), then we need to consider what we can incorporate into designs to help each of the preceding needs to be met.

Ravenhall Correctional Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Physiological needs

While all prisons provide the basic needs of shelter and food, the design of facilities determines how well these needs are met. This includes the provision of natural ventilation for fresh air, heating and cooling to maintain a comfortable temperature range and acoustic treatments that allow for a quiet place for rest. All of these areas help in meeting the physiological needs of prisoners.

Safety needs

Creating an environment that feels safe for both staff and prisoners is always a challenge. The knee jerk reaction is often to create physical barriers to separate prisoner groups from each other and staff.

But simple things like designing in good passive surveillance, encouraging interaction between prisoners and staff, and the creation of spaces that range from private areas of seclusion to larger communal spaces, can often have a greater effect in making a correctional facility feel safe.

Love and belonging needs

We often, quite rightly, focus on destressing and normalising the experience for visitors so that prisoners can maintain a connection to loved ones. However, to properly address the need for ‘belonging’, our designs also need to enable a sense of community within correctional facilities, particularly for prisoners with longer sentences. Small things like creating gardens that prisoners can look after, and the installation of prisoner artwork can create a sense of ownership and belonging.

Hopkins Correctional Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Esteem needs

A great example of building self-esteem through design is the design of spaces that cater for people with disabilities to provide them with an increased sense of dignity and independence. The same focus on increasing dignity and independence can also be applied to the design of correctional facilities.

Technologies such as full-body scanners can improve prisoners sense of dignity through reducing the need for strip searches, the use of self-catering facilities for meals and laundry can improve prisoners sense of independence, and the provision of educational programs can provide prisoners with a sense of achievement. All of which can help improve prisoners sense of self-worth.

Cognitive needs

Inside a correctional centre, the freedom to learn and absorb knowledge can often be restricted by the environment. However, technology is making information and learning more and more accessible to prisoners.

About the Author

Craig Blewitt is one of our most experienced correctional architects, managing all correctional and justice projects in our Brisbane Studio and assisting on the large correctional projects managed by our Melbourne Studio.

Biophilic Design in Prisons

By Rachel Hur

Scenario

Imagine that you are in a cubicle located in the middle of the office floor plate. Your office has a glazed front, but you are looking into another open office. You have no real window or view to the outside, so you can't tell if it's raining outside or sunny. If you are lucky, and you do have a window, it's fixed, and you are looking into an office in the neighbouring building that is five metres away.

The fluorescent lighting that you sit under for eight hours has thrown out your body's natural circadian rhythm. The ventilation is alright, but you start to feel droopy at around 3pm because the carbon dioxide levels in your shoebox have risen. It might even feel a bit stuffy, regardless of the door being open or closed. As you don't have an operable window, you have been breathing in recycled air all day. When you get outside and take a breath, you will instantly notice that the air outside is fresh.

Now multiply that by five days a week, 48 weeks a year. Maybe you will get a pot plant in a few weeks.

The Biophilia Hypothesis

Exposure to the natural world is essential for human wellbeing because humans have an innate connection with the natural world (Gills).

It sounds obvious, doesn't it? But how often do we rely on the natural world to recharge and reconnect? We live in a world full of distractions and in a culture that prioritises efficiency, quick change and instant gratification. Is it any wonder that the rates of anxiety and depression are increasing, and our knowledge and awareness of mental health issues and mindfulness are growing to combat this?

We need the natural environment now more than ever. To look beyond the concrete jungle that has become our normal life, and find moments to breathe, destress and recover. Nature has been there all along, patiently waiting for us to stop, take a breath and recharge.

What does this have to do with design and architecture, you might ask?

Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Biophilic Design – what is it?

Biophilic design philosophy encourages the use of natural systems and processes in design to allow for exposure to nature. Exposure to nature has been found to have positive responses on human psychology and physiology in contribution to improved health and wellbeing (Gills, Soderlund).

It is the integration of the biophilia hypothesis into design. Biophilic design has been further incorporated into environmental psychology theories of Attention Restoration Theory and Stress Recovery Theory. Both theories suggest that there are stressful and non-stressful environments and that non-stressful environments can actively help people recover from stress and fatigue (Gills).

These theories are supported by studies that have found that exposure to nature reduces heart rate variability and pulse rates, decreases blood pressure, lowers cortisol and increases parasympathetic nervous system activity, while lowering sympathetic nervous system activity (Soderlund).

Biophilia is not merely about providing trees and greenery, but consists of different natural layers, which can be divided into direct experience of nature (light, air, weather), indirect experience of nature (natural materials, evoking nature) and the experience of space and place (prospect and refuge, organised complexity).

What do we do with it?

As we specialise in correctional facilities here at Guymer Bailey, we strive to create humane environments that allow for rehabilitation. One of the key ways we do this is using biophilic design.

Let's face it; prisons are known to be "not nice". When we look at the statistics, 44.8% of prisoners released during 2014 – 2015 returned to prison within two years across Australia.

With a design focus on rehabilitation and not punishment, part of this rehabilitation is creating therapeutic spaces and calm environments where people can feel safe and secure. A lot of our decisions in the design process are around biophilic design such as providing access to natural light and fresh air, views to the landscape and use of colour and materials.

Enhancing living quality doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, it just comes down to prioritising and efficient design, and in the case of our secure facilities, the balance with security requirements.

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre, a project completed almost a year ago in the Grampians Region, is an example of successful biophilic design implementation with views out beyond the perimeter fence to the mountains, natural light in every room for both residents and staff, and either operable windows or natural ventilation units in every room across the site. Timber has also been used internally and externally, and we retained as many existing trees as possible to keep that connection to nature. So far, we have received positive staff feedback about the therapeutic design of the facility and the benefits of being able to open all the office windows.

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

What can you do with it?

Biophilic design can reduce stress, improve cognitive performance and positively impact emotions and mood. What's more, it can be implemented in all typologies, including residential, education, commercial, health, and as you have seen corrections. We've even started to implement it in our own studios.

Our Brisbane studio has many operable windows, granted Brisbane has much better weather than Melbourne! In Melbourne, we are restricted from major modifications because we're on the fifth floor of a building but have a row of potted peace lilies to help filter the air. We have also recently replaced a fixed window with operable louvres, and even though it's only one, we've already started feeling the difference in the air (and no, it's not just the cold air of winter!). The CO2 levels are lower on that side of the studio as well.

It's not the easiest thing to change in a building already built, but biophilic design is something that we can design into new projects. Hospitals are seeing the benefits of biophilia for patients and have started building in courtyards and windows. Prisons are doing it; schools are doing it. When will you start doing it?

References

Gillis, K., Gatersleben, B. "A Review of Psychological Literature on Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Biophilic Design"

Soderlund, J., Newman, P. "Improving Mental Health in Prisons Through Biophilic Design"

About the Author

Rachel Hur specialises correctional architecture with a strong focus on rehabilitation and creating therapeutic spaces. This, combined with her passion for sustainability and biophilic design in prisons, makes her a valued member of the Guymer Bailey corrections team. Rachel was the Project Lead on the Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre, which was recently shortlisted in the 2019 Victorian Architecture Awards Sustainability Category.​​

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre, a secure residential treatment facility designed to house 20 residents from serious sex offender and violent offender cohorts, has recently opened in the Grampians region of Victoria.

The post-sentence facility, designed by Guymer Bailey Architects, has been created to provide intensive treatment to target rehabilitation prior to transitioning back into the community and includes staff offices and training spaces, various rooms for programs, training and education and individual residential units to encourage independent and community living.

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Kavan Applegate the Project Director on the Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre, said the Centre had been designed to reduce recidivism rates in Victoria.“This facility is the first of its kind in Victoria and displays the commitment Corrections Victoria has to providing intensive treatment and supervision to serious offenders to reduce risk of reoffending.”

To avoid an institutional feel, the Centre uses a mix of warm materials such as timber both internally and externally throughout the buildings, as well as landscaped outdoor areas (with walking paths, gardens and exercise equipment) to provide a greater connection to nature from both staff and resident areas. Independent living has also been encouraged through the design, with individual residential units linked to communal spaces.

“The individual residential units are designed to encourage independent living for residents to help them transition back into society. Shared communal spaces also allow for community-type interactions with other residents in a way that is very different to the operations within a correctional facility. Research from the UK has shown that supported housing like this is an important part of effective rehabilitation and reintegration.” Kavan said.

There are three standout design features of Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre:

The Perimeter Fence

Due to the secure nature of the brief, the perimeter fence still needed to function like a prison perimeter – but these traditionally feel harsh and overbearing. To minimise the correctional feel, a fence was designed with precast concrete panels at the bottom and with a perforated steel fence above. An image of trees is created with the perforations in the fence providing visual relief in the perimeter border. The fence has been detailed in such a way that it maintains the required security levels.

The Timber Cladding

The main building is clad in timber on the second floor to distinguish it from the other single-storey buildings and almost eliminate the feeling of being inside a secure facility. The timber cladding also forms an anti-climb façade to the resident side. Blackbutt timber was used due to its amazing, rich tone that will naturally grey over time.

Programs Building at Rivergum. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

The Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) Initiatives

To ensure sustainability through the design of the Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre, we worked closely with our expert ESD Consultant who guided our material and systems selections to maximise quality and long-term savings. These initiatives also aim to reduce energy consumption and decrease impact on the environment.

Passive Design: Passive environmental design principles were incorporated into the buildings to reduce the need for mechanical heating and cooling, and calculated sun shading elements such as the timber fins on the main building’s northern façade were also built in to reduce summer heat loads. Other passive design techniques include attention to building orientation, insulation, natural ventilation and thermal properties of materials.

The windows of the facility were specified to have high performance, double-glazed units, which minimises heat transmittance, and thermally broken aluminium window frames to eliminate cold bridges from the outside temperature into the buildings. The staff offices also have double glazed operable louvres, which operate automatically depending on the internal office conditions to maintain optimum indoor air quality. 

Putting preference on natural ventilation to achieve high indoor air quality levels, most of the rooms across the site, including the residential units, utilise a Lunos unit, which continuously trickles in fresh air from the outside without the need for a full HVAC system and thus decreases energy use. The main Programs building was given a central, triangular courtyard to minimise depths of floor plates to maximise natural day light into the spaces, reducing the need for full internal lighting during the day.

Central Staff Courtyard. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Materials: Insulated precast concrete sandwich panels were used inside to maintain high R-values and stabilise internal temperatures. The floors throughout the facility are generally honed concrete, which also attributes to thermal mass, reduces the need for additional flooring material and creates a raw but characteristic finish to the spaces.

Insulated sandwich panel roofing completes the continuous insulation around the buildings. This was achieved by careful detailing of the insulation in the walls and to the underside of the slab which all join with the roof insulation like an uninterrupted wrap around the building. This essentially stops any heat or cool air leaking out of the buildings, which can lead to overuse of HVAC systems and creates a continuous insulation wrap around the buildings .

Staff Breakout. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Residential units use the thermal mass of the brick veneer and concrete filled structural walls to keep the units cool in the summer and warm in the winter without mechanical systems . The floors in the residential units have in-slab hydronic heating. The high thermal mass of the concrete allows for it to absorb, store and release heat, thus making the heating system more effective with less energy use for winter months. All the residential units also utilise the Lunos units and have operable windows, filling the units with constant fresh air and freedom for users to control the internal environment based on their needs.

A geothermal system supplies energy for the hydronic heating, further reducing the heating energy consumption. The geothermal system also provides cooling for the mechanical systems in the main programs building by circulating coolant through loops in the ground that use the natural sub-surface temperatures to cool down before recirculating again.

Geothermal energy is still not very common in Australia, but when used in conjunction with the other sustainable initiatives at Rivergum, such as understanding thermal mass of materials like concrete and combining it with effective systems like in-slab heating, it is designed to reduce energy consumption and provides a better environmental outcome as it relies on natural ground temperatures and only requires a small pump to recirculate coolant through the pipes.

Multi-Faith Chapel and Contemplative Garden. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

On Site Collection: External sustainable initiatives were also included in the design such as solar panel shade structures over the car park and thoughtful design of networked swales to maximise stormwater capture for storage in underground water tanks.

The solar shade structure use is a two-fold: one was to provide off-grid power to the facility; and the other, to provide staff vehicles protection from the extreme summer and winter temperatures. Each car space is estimated to provide approximately 3kWh. To compare, an average household of one person uses approximately 9kWh per day. 60 car spaces are covered, which means there is enough power generated to supply around 20 single households per day.

The facility is 100% electric, and the inspiration behind this innovative idea was the Department’s aspiration for Net Zero Energy in all new facilities. By harnessing clean energy, the facility can reduce its carbon footprint and has a chance to offset the embodied and consumed energy of the materials, construction and use of the facility.

Solar Panel Shade Structure. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

The Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre is a clear example of what can be achieved through innovative rehabilitative design. Providing a non-institutional space which still operates as a secure facility, residents can more easily adjust to life in the community.

The Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre was recently shortlisted in the 2019 Victorian Architecture Awards Sustainability Category.

Normalisation in the Correctional Environment

Normalisation has become a bit of a buzzword in the design of correctional facilities, but what does it really mean? A group of the Guymer Bailey team sat down recently to discuss what constitutes a normalised environment and how close we’re getting to achieving it.

What does normalising a correctional environment mean? What do you see as the main benefits?

Kavan Applegate –  The normalisation of ‘what’ needs to be asked. Is a correctional environment aiming to be/look/feel like a house? Or a school campus? Is a cell trying to feel like a bedroom? Or is it more about normalising daily routines and activities? “Normal” environments are often messy or untidy, but institutions aim to be clean and tidy. Is it OK if a cell is a mess, like someone lives at home? Maybe ‘normalised’ isn’t the right word?

Yoshi Seki – In my opinion, normalcy is about allowing prisoners to manage their life within prison to give them a better chance of adjusting back into society upon release. Normalisation comes about through a combination of the physical environment and the way the correctional centre operates. It’s about emphasising the rehabilitation aspect more than punishment, which ultimately reduces chance of reoffending. 

Hopkins Correctional Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Rachel Hur – For me, it’s about providing a humane space – which is difficult to define because there are so many different views on corrections and there is a certain dogma around what a prison should be.

Amanda Larsson – The environment should cater for the natural variations in people’s personality and mood. The interiors and landscape should cater for everything from large active social groups, to quieter conversation spaces and areas of solitude. The simple act of providing variation in the size of seating groups can create different zones of privacy and interaction that mimics societal norms.

Ben Roberts - I think the research on this topic speaks for itself. We need to change the mentality of prisons as a tool of punishment. How can people be expected to rehabilitate and normalise back into society if we lock them in a hard concrete box?

Alie Kennedy - Making sure that it is not institutional is so important for rehabilitation of the prisoners. I see that giving the prisoners an environment that they can be proud of will generally encourage them to treat it with respect, as well as changing their mood about their environment and themselves and each other. We know that most prisoners have not had the easiest life and a “normal” environment might be the one they have never experienced – which comes back to Kavan’s earlier point about defining what ‘normal’ means. I think we need to do our bit to promote this and contribute to dropping recidivism rates as much as we can. 

Ralph Bailey - If prisoners are treated well and given opportunities, they can develop behaviour management and self-control skills, and can learn vocational skills that will benefit them on their return to society. Treat them poorly and they’re more likely to leave prison angry and with limited skills to obtain work and integrate back into society, which makes recidivism more likely.

Craig Blewitt – I agree, prisoners are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment. The vast majority of prisoners are released back into general society at some point, so it’s important that the conditions inside help prisoners to develop and maintain a normalised routine so that they’re better prepared for release. Simple things such as getting up and going to work or education, taking care of their own health, meals and laundry can play a huge role in helping prisoners transition to normal life once they are released.

Ralph Bailey – Ongoing visitation from family and friends is critical to normalising the life of prisoners. It allows them to maintain and, in many cases, repair the relationships that will support them throughout their sentence and underpin their integration back into society when they’re released.

Amanda Larsson – The landscape environment plays a huge role in destressing this experience for visitors. The approach to the site, and the walk from the carpark to the gatehouse set the tone for the visits experience. The connection between the gatehouse and visits which can often be a sterile and confronting environment, has the opportunity to provide a zone of respite for visitors to decompress after moving through security screening – and we have had the opportunity to embrace this approach in recent projects.

Ben Roberts - Nature and the built environment can drastically change people’s emotions, and there is no reason a prison can’t take advantage of this. If we provide spaces where visitors feel welcome, they’ll come back. If we can provide spaces where prisoners can reflect, learn, grow they must have a better chance when they get back into society.

Rachel Hur – It begins with the architecture of the whole place because it can influence how someone feels and acts in a space. Therefore, being able to inject elements for basic human needs such as access to daylight, fresh air and nature are very fundamental and pretty much a necessity for any sort of design.

Yoshi Seki – I couldn’t agree more, and I think that’s where design can play a big role. Prisons are often a very confrontational place for visitors, so by making the experience for visitors – the gatehouse, security screening and the visits centre – as welcoming as possible, it helps to encourage visitors to return.

Hopkins Correctional Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

How do you balance creating a normalised environment with the security and movement control required for a correctional centre?

Ben Roberts - This is the challenge. In part comes down to the architecture and partly the operations. I think we need to rely on both for the best result and not just one or the other. We need architecture that gives prisoners opportunity and need to trust the staff enough to manage this.

Rachel Hur - This is actually quite an interesting design challenge. The security and movement control are obviously a top priority for the safety of everyone in the facility, including staff, but it’s trying to find a creative solution for “normalising” this that’s a good challenge and can be achieved in different ways.

Yoshi Seki – I think the approach generally depends of the security level of the facility as this often determines the level of freedom afforded to prisoners and the approaches we take as designers to normalising the environment. An example would be the selection of finishes to suit different security levels of accommodation. In a minimum-security facility, we’re able to select more domestic style finishes in order to soften and normalise environment. Where dealing with higher security classifications, we need to specify more robust and durable materials, so the challenge becomes making selections that still create a normalised and engaging feel for occupants.

Amanda Larsson – The same consideration for materiality and finishes applies in the landscape design for different security classifications. Our objective is always to ensure enough soft scaping in the form of garden beds and trees make it into the design without compromising safety, but the security level then influences how we achieve that objective. In lower security facilities the experience of the landscape is generally tactile – planting prisoners can touch and interact with. In higher security facilities its more of a visual connection to borrowed landscapes, with the accessible landscape elements becoming more subdued.

Ralph Bailey – The effective segregation and movement controls for different prisoner cohorts can also help to provide normalised environment for all prisoners. By designing correctional facilities to reduce the likelihood of conflicting prisoner groups from coming into direct contact with each other, it helps to create a sense of safety for prisoners. And, this is even more-so when it can be achieved without relying on timetabling to avoid the interactions. When a prisoner feels safe in their environment, they’re more likely to be more social and more willing to participate in rehabilitative and vocational programs and training.

Amanda Larsson – How you go about creating a secure barrier to accommodation communities or a whole facility can have a huge impact on the whether an environment feels normalised or not. While there is always the security reality of needing fences and walls to contain and separate prisoner cohorts, innovative design solutions can break down the visual scale of the barriers. Through varying materials and creating views to landscaped spaces through and beyond the fences and walls, it can decrease the feeling of prisoners feeling enclosed or being ‘caged in’.

Ben Roberts - Technology is providing opportunities for managing prisoner movements, and this is something that will keep improving. Advancements and cost reductions are already allowing surveillance in areas that would have previously put a guard in a dangerous position. I’m sure this will improve further allowing us to stretch correctional design in ways that we couldn’t before.

How close are we getting to creating a truly normalised correctional environment? What areas can we improve on or give more consideration to?

Kavan Applegate - I think we’ve come a reasonable distance toward a normalised environment in some jurisdictions. Hopkins Correctional Centre and Ravenhall Correctional Centre both have open campuses which are approaching the scale and aesthetic of university campuses. Individual buildings still use concrete and blockwork, which is necessary from a construction approach, but there definitely needs to be more focus on reducing the scale of the large accommodation buildings – at least in terms of visual bulk, variation, and colour.

Yoshi Seki - I think the design of cell fit outs and colour schemes still needs more work – this is where many prisoners spend the majority of their time. While the need to minimise ligature points does decrease design options, and the robustness requirements limit the options for materiality, this is an area that will see more development in the coming years.

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre. Photography by Scott Burrows Photography.

Craig Blewitt – I think smaller scale projects such as the Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre and Totalspace Design’s redevelopment of the Ruby Unit at Adelaide Women’s Prison have shown how the incorporation of many materials not normally allowed within secure facilities allows the creation of a very domestic feel within quite a secure environment. And, with minimal risk.

Alie Kennedy – These projects have gone a long way to creating a normalised environments for prisoners, but we still have to acknowledge the security overlays of the environment we’re designing means that normalising every aspect of a prison design has limitations – and that inspires us to constantly strive to find ways of getting as close to the normalised environment, within these limitations.

Design differences between American and Australian Correctional Facilities

Brisbane based Associate Craig Blewitt has recently returned from a study tour of the USA, Mexico, UK and Germany. During the tour, Craig visited correctional and court facilities in the USA, supplier factories and showrooms in the US, Mexico and UK; and attended the ISH trade show in Germany.

Written by Craig Blewitt

I recently had the privilege of being invited to join a correctional study tour through the USA, Mexico, UK and Germany. While there were many highlights along the way, the biggest takeaway for me from the trip was the contrast in design of correctional facilities in the USA – not only with what we do here in Australia – but between individual American facilities that are located within a few hours’ drive of each other.

Despite working in the correctional design space for more than a decade, I have to admit that I left Australia with the preconceived notion of American correctional facilities that you see on TV and in movies. I was both pleasantly surprised and greatly shocked by what I saw.

The two correctional centres I visited in the US were both County Jails – which are essentially the equivalent of Australian remand and reception centres.

In the USA, prisoners remanded into custody are typically housed in a correctional centre operated by the local county. If a prisoner is found guilty, they will generally remain in county run facilities if their sentence is less than 12 months.

With over 3,000 counties across the USA, that results in a vast range of different design and operational approaches for correctional facilities – and the two facilities I visited potentially represent the two extremes in design and operational approach.

Las Colinas Women’s Correctional Centre

Photo Source: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College

The Las Colinas Detention and Re-entry Facility has a maximum capacity of 1,270 female prisoners and is the primary county jail for women in San Diego County. Of the two facilities I visited, this was closest to the Australian approach to the design of correctional centres.

The facility has an open campus style masterplan, which de-stresses the external environment within the complex. The main street links key support services and stretches from the Gatehouse to the Multi-Faith building at the rear of the site. The accommodation is arranged in communities of different scales and classifications around the perimeter of the site.

The minimum security accommodation is dormitory style where each prisoner has a cubicle with a bed, desk, wardrobe and TV. Similar accommodation styles have recently been tested in the recent rapid-build facilities in NSW with up to 25 inmates per unit.

At Las Colinas there are up to 60 prisoners in each unit, however, rather than housing them in one large room, the accommodation is separated over two levels to provide zones of privacy within the communal space; with a central double height communal living area in the centre.

Photo Source: KMD Architects

The materials used within the accommodation buildings are simple, yet through thoughtful selection create a sense of warmth and calmness. The timber grain of the joinery units and doors, variation in colour and texture, provision of natural light, domestic style furniture and the use of large scale landscape imagery converts what could be a stark and institutional environment into a relaxed and welcoming space.

Photo Source: Vanir Construction Management, Inc.

In a departure to the ‘on unit’ dining approach used in Australian facilities, the Los Colinas centre used a large central meal hall with scheduled meal times for each accommodation unit. This approach removes the need for transportation of meals across the site, but conversely requires the movement of prisoners to the meal hall, which may pose larger operational challenges.

While the environment of the meal hall facilitates greater communal interaction between inmates, it conversely removes the rehabilitative benefits of normalising daily routines through self-catering units.

Photo Source: Vanir Construction Management, Inc.

During the tour, we stopped at the on-site coffee shop, which is staffed by prisoners and serves both staff and prisoners. Speaking to the barista, we heard an inspiring story of how the design and opportunities provided within the Los Colinas facility created a rehabilitative environment. She spoke about how the program had changed her life – she came into prison not having finished high school and was going to leave in a few weeks with a hospitality management qualification and a goal of setting up her own coffee shop.

East County Detention Centre

Photo Source: Clark Constructions

The East County Detention Centre (ECDC) is a high-density multi-level correctional centre located within the downtown area of Indio, California. The design of the ECDC facility has several substantial differences to what we do in Australia, which made the visit to the nearly complete facility quite an eye-opener.

One of the primary differences in the design at ECDC compared to Australian facilities was the density of the accommodation. Once complete, ECDC will house approximately 1500 prisoners within a 3.75-hectare site – which equates to 25sqm of the site per inmate.

By means of comparison, the Metropolitan Remand & Reception Centre in NSW has approx. 115sqm of site area per prisoner and the Ravenhall Correctional Centre in Victoria has approx. 230sqm per prisoner.

The density of the site is achieved through double bunking of all cells, employing a radial design and increasing the height of the cell blocks to eight levels. The compromise to achieve the density of the site is the provision of limited outdoor space and the removal of access to natural light from internal prisoner spaces.

Each of the accommodation towers has four double storey accommodation units (eight storeys in total), each featuring six accommodation pods with 16 bunk bed cells opening onto a dayroom. Rather than having internal service ducts between cells, or an external catwalk around the outside of the building, the design provides a continuous service corridor around the outside of the building – which means none of the cells has an external window.

As the cells are located around the outside of the building, the dayrooms also have no access to natural light or ventilation. They are dim, stark spaces that rely on overhead artificial lighting. The only access to natural light and natural ventilation provided to prisoners is the few hours per week they are allowed into one of the exercise yards. These ‘yards’ have a high-level glimpse of the sky but are otherwise no different to the dayrooms.

Photo Source: HOK

The other revelation was the system employed for visits. Rather than having a contact visits hall, or even a series of non-contact visits booths, the centre relies on video conference links between visitor booths located off the main foyer, and screens located in the accommodation dayrooms.

While several Australian jurisdictions exploring the idea of higher density, multi-storey accommodation, the compromises to natural light, outdoor space, programs and visits facilities that were made to achieve the accommodation density at ECDC would be a step backwards from the rehabilitative correctional environments that have been developed across Australia in the last few decades.

* Craig attended the correctional study tour as a guest of AVAC Australia.

About the Author

Craig Blewitt is one of our most experienced correctional architects, managing all correctional and justice projects in our Brisbane Studio and assisting on the large correctional projects managed by our Melbourne Studio.

Q&A with our newest Associate, Craig Blewitt

It is with excitement that we announce that Senior Architect, Craig Blewitt, has recently been promoted to Associate.

Craig is one of our most experienced correctional architects, managing all correctional and justice projects in our Brisbane Studio and assisting on the large correctional projects managed by our Melbourne Studio. He is also the resident “door guru”, assisting with door and hardware scheduling across all of our correctional projects.

Warmly known in the Studios for his love of a good secure lock and a spreadsheet, ability to string together puns, and a passion for rehabilitative design, to celebrate his promotion we thought we would sit down for a chat with Craig to find out what he loves most about architecture and his views on correctional design.

Q: What do you love most about architecture?

I enjoy the collaboration process between architects, landscape architects, interior designers, engineers, consultants, builders and contractors during the design and construction process.

Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I love witnessing the transition from paper to built form – seeing a project through from concept to completion.

Q: How many years’ experience have you had in the industry?

I’ve been working in the construction industry for over 12 years now, with nearly a decade spent toiling on correctional and justice projects.

Q: Tell us a little about your work in corrections, what makes you specialise in this area?

I kind of just fell into the corrections field. I worked on a project during university, and I haven’t looked back. The more I’ve worked on correctional projects, the more I’ve grown to love the complexity of these projects and the variety of building types. I’ve developed a passion for designing well-considered spaces that promote rehabilitation.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself and what do you do when you are not busy designing or jet-setting around?

I don’t have much time away from work at the moment, but the bright side is that I can pretty much recite the Virgin safety demonstration verbatim.

Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat. Photography by Scott Burrows

Q: Is there a stand out project you have worked on?

The Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat is probably the standout project for me. Partly because it’s the first correctional project that I had a leadership role on, and partly because of the well-publicised contractual issues, that took the challenges of the project to a whole other level.

Q: What has been the most memorable moment of your career?

Being asked by a builder whether they needed to remove the lumps of plaster on a floor slab before installing the flooring. But more seriously, attending the official opening of the Hopkins Correctional Centre, a project that I worked on full-time for close to six years, including relocating to Ararat for two years on site.

Q: Where do you see correctional design heading in the future?

With the prisoner population growing across Australia, it’s vital that the current and future design of prisons have a greater focus on rehabilitation through educational and behavioural programs, the development of work and social skills, and increased opportunities for family connection.

To be truly effective, the rehabilitative programs need to extend beyond the walls of correctional centres to provide post-release facilities that continue to support prisoners in the years immediately following their release when the risk of recidivism is at its highest.

A word from the Directors

Having designed many of Australia’s most innovative correctional projects including the $200 million Hopkins Correctional Centre expansion and the multi-award winning $670 million Ravenhall Prison Project, at Guymer Bailey we know the importance of rehabilitative design and the need for secure environments need to be normalised as much as possible, to make the transition out of the prison system is easier.

Craig’s promotion and management of correctional projects is a crucial step in achieving our vision to ‘design a better world’ through rehabilitative correctional design as we work with academic researchers to ensure our design solutions are evidence-based and best-practice.

Ravenhall Correctional Centre wins Master Builders Award

Ravenhall Correctional Centre designed by Guymer Bailey Architects and built by John Holland Group won the Master Builders Victoria Excellence in Construction of Commercial Buildings over $80M award at the 2018 Excellence in Construction Awards.

Ravenhall Correctional Centre, which is aiming to become the benchmark for rehabilitative prisons worldwide, is the largest prison in Victoria, currently one of the largest correctional facilities in Australia and the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) prison to be delivered on time.

The Correctional Centre consists of 42 buildings within a secure perimeter wall and a further five buildings external of the wall to cater for other services and government facilities. Buildings include medium-security and transitional accommodation, residential accommodation, medical facilities, reception and visiting areas and industry buildings for trade training.

Director of Guymer Bailey and lead Architect on the project, Kavan Applegate, said, “The Ravenhall Correctional Centre has been four years in the making and a combined effort across our architecture, landscape and interiors teams. Our builders, John Holland Group, have brilliantly executed our drawings to built form, and we extend our congratulations on winning the Master Builders Award.”

Over 63,000 plants were used in the landscaping of the Correctional Centre with multiple sports courts, shelters and external fitness equipment also designed by our landscaping team.

Rob Waddell, Principal Landscape Architect on the project, said, “Access to and interaction with the natural environment positively impacts on human physical, social and cultural needs. The landscape design for Ravenhall seeks to physically and psychologically reconnect prisoners with quality outdoor spaces, which will directly impact on prisoner health and wellbeing, both mental and physical.”

South Coast Correctional Centre Expansion Open and Ready for Inmates

The new 200-bed minimum-security wing at the South Coast Correctional Centre (SCCC), designed by Guymer Bailey Architects, has been opened by the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Justice and inmates have started to be transferred.

The minimum-security wing expansion which has been designed to feel more like a campus than a correctional centre, includes accommodation for inmates, health facilities, staff amenities, a programs building and an industry building.

The new facility is part of the NSW Government’s $3.8 billion infrastructure program to help reduce recidivism rates among offenders through upgraded educational and work programs. With more than 80% of inmates at SCCC enrolled in a trade or other upskilling program, these new facilities will significantly assist with the rehabilitation of offenders.

Allan Pearson, the Senior Architect on the project, said, “The South Coast Correctional Centre expansion has been two and a half years in the making, so it is a great achievement to see the new minimum-security wing open.” 

The stand-alone facility is part of a broader expansion that also includes a 160-bed maximum-security wing that is expected to open at the site next year.

Ravenhall Prison Named Australia's Best Infrastructure Project

Victoria’s $670 million Ravenhall Prison Project has been named as Australia’s best infrastructure project at Infrastructure Partnerships Australia’s National Infrastructure Awards.

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Ravenhall Prison - Original concept design

““It is exciting to see the Ravenhall Prison Project win the Project of the Year Award as it is the first privately delivered prison project Victoria has seen in about 20 years – delivered on-budget and on-time” ”

— IPA Chief Executive Adrian Dwyer.

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Gatehouse

“The Ravenhall Prison Project fundamentally transforms the way that support is provided to people in the justice system in Victoria.

“In a Victorian first, the proponents will oversee all elements of the prison’s operations, including custodial services, with performance targets to directly reduce the rate of recidivism.

“Australia is a world leader in bringing together the public and private sectors through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to deliver better outcomes for the community.

“The Ravenhall Prison Project is a stellar example of the evolution of the PPP model in Australia and shows what can be achieved when the public and private sectors collaborate to achieve good outcomes.

“I pass on my congratulations to the winners of the Project of the Year Award tonight,” Mr Dwyer said.

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Transitions Hub Courtyard

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Community 4

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Cell Building Day Room

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Internal recreation space

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The National Infrastructure Awards are convened by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia each year, recognising excellence in public administration and business, across major projects. The Project of the Year is the most prestigious of the Awards.