CHAPTER 3: PRECEDENTS ANALYSIS
HALDEN PRISON
General information:
Location: Halden, Norway
Status: operational
Security class: Maximum
Capacity: 248-252
Population: 251(as of 2015)
Opened: April 8, 2010
‘Although often criticized for being especially liberal in its approach to crime and punishment, Norway focuses intensely on ensuring that” doing time” is done in a dignified way, and inmates’ sentence should be a dress rehearsal for living a life without crime once they have completed their sentence. The Halden Prison in Halden, Norway is considered to be the world’s most humane prison.’
Layout
Halden prison is designed in campus layout, Facilities are split between separate buildings, with a surrounding perimeter wall. So, inmates have to start their day with commute – mimicking life in the outside world, providing easy access to outdoor physical activityandgivesinmatesarichviewoftheirsurroundingenvironment (unlike the other layouts) ; This access to nature also gives inmates
track the passage of the time
what happen inside the walls?
Halden design affect the way correctional officers and inmates interact Housing to broken up into small communities with a shared kitchen and communal space. Correctional officers can easily monitor inmates through regular face-to-face contact, instead of observing large groups of people from a distance. And the guards’ rooms are intentionally designed too small, to incentivize them to move out into the inmates’ common area. In other prisons, interiors are made from hard materials, which block light, visually unappealing, and constantly reflect noise. But in Halden interiors are made from glass to let in natural light, cork, and wood to muffle the noise
The grounds of humane prisons are usually landscaped carefully. At Halden tall birch and pine trees dwarf the buildings and obscure the perimeter wall.
Lending what designers call an “anti-authoritarian” feel to the campus:
inmates are never made to feel intimidated by architecture itself
Recommendations
Campus Design advantages -Humane prison are often laid out in a campus design-:
. normalize inmate daily routine mimicking life in the outside world
. gives inmates a rich view of their surrounding environment (unlike the other layouts)
. providing easy access to outdoor physical activity
The grounds of humane prisons are usually landscaped carefully
Design affect the way correctional officers and inmates interact
Using materials let in natural light and muffle noise
Lending what designers call an “anti-authoritarian” feel to the campus : inmates are never made to feel intimidated by architecture itself
STORSTRØM PRISON
General information:
Location: Falster, Denmark
Architect: C.F. Møller
Area: 35,000 m²
Year: 2017
‘to create the world’s most humane high-security prison, which contributes to the inmates’ social rehabilitation through architecture that supports the inmates’ mental and physical well-being and also ensures a secure and pleasant workplace for the prison staff’
Layout
Storstrøm Prison made up of ten buildings in total cover an overall floor space of approximately 35,000 m²
The overall architectural approach is to create a building on the same scale and with the same structure as, including streets and squares. This will ensure a familiar and varied experience of the prison environment and keep the prison’s institutional atmosphere to a minimum.
Function analysis
Accommodation
Prison facilities
Security analysis
Security through architecture
The architecture provides vantage points for prison staff, from which they can oversee a complete floor of a cell department, with a wide field of vision in several directions from central guardroom spaces. These spaces are also an obvious meeting place for inmates and staff. To safeguard staff safety, there are secure rooms and escape routes in the individual departments, so that staff can quickly assemble here and maintain the upper hand in the event of unrest among the inmates.
A prison within the prison
The secure wing is used for negatively dominant and restricted status inmates. This unit is surrounded by a wall, and inmates and prison staff are physically separated. In other units, the staff man has an open desk.
Flexible prison
The architectural design has been used to create a flexible prison that can adapt to different categories of inmates and specific emergencies. This is achieved by making it possible to divide individual departments into larger and smaller sections. This helps to
enhance security and provide good conditions for the social rehabilitation of prisoners in a secure environment.
Elevations
To create further variation, facades and roof ridges are angular in different ways and the facade materials alternate between light-coloured bricks and a combination of concrete and galvanised steel – all durable materials which weather beautifully and do not need much maintenance.
Conclusion
prison main components
- accommodation
- prisoner facilities
- prison support
Prison that Uses Architecture to Promote Prisoners’ Social Rehabilitation
Storstrøm Prison humane high-security prison
contributes to the inmates’ social rehabilitation through architecture that supports the inmates’ mental and physical well-being and also ensures a secure and pleasant workplace for the prison staff.
prison architecture promote all of human needs from physiological to self actualization
cell design :
- day light
- views out
- safety furniture
- high security achieved
achieve a good inmates - guards relationship by providing social spaces for both
The overall architectural approach is to create a building on the same scale and with the same structure as, including streets and squares.
This will ensure a familiar and varied experience of the prison environment and keep the prison’s institutional atmosphere to a minimum.
The townlike structure also resembles the surrounding villages, and is thus a natural element of the landscape
