NCJ Number
77098
Date Published
1981
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The architect's planning for the construction of a new maximum-security facility in Minnesota is described.
Abstract
When the architect first joined the project, the Department of Corrections had already developed a comprehensive mission statement for the facility. The architect worked with the correctional planners in developing a final mission statement that demanded a wide range of management options that hitherto had not been considered necessary in designing a high-security facility. The facility was designed to produce a balance between providing for environmental needs, maintaining the staff's and inmates' security, and minimizing opportunities for escape. In the design, a unit consists of inmate living rooms, grouped together to form a complex. The complex contains 52 inmate rooms, which are broken down into small discrete groups, with each group having its own activity space. It is possible to have a group of six or seven rooms with its own defensible space visually separated from the rest of the area. The complexities of a split-level design involve a series of rooms on one level and another series on another level, each with lounge spaces below and above, so that these areas are distinguishable from the more public activity spaces that connect all of the separate areas. Each complex looks out onto the mall. A two-level corridor system is wrapped around the entire building to allow for movement from one housing unit to another. Inmates and staff can move through a secure network of corridors or through open public space. The housing areas occupy two layers of the linear plan, and the third layer, which is essentially a multipurpose space, can be used for industrial and educational programs. A question and answer discussion follows the presentation.