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BY LARRY HURLBERT
Integrus Architecture
As public safety becomes a greater issue everywhere, detention and correction facilities have a become a greater part of the design and construction industry.
Design of these facilities responds to dramatic inmate population growth, operational and management changes, special needs populations, and changing project delivery methods.
Numerous large scale buildings are under construction across the country.
Over the last fifteen years, the number of people incarcerated in the United States has tripled, from 500,000 to more than 1.5 million. In the last ten years, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has grown from 48 facilities and 42,000 inmates to 90 institutions housing more than 101,000 inmates.
The need for new correction/detention facilities is preeminent in the Pacific Northwest. The states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana are all currently in the process of designing and building additional correctional facilities. The state of Washington is planning a new 1,900-bed facility in western Washington, and Integrus is currently involved in a 500-bed expansion of the recently completed Airway Heights Correction Center in eastern Washington.
Oregon has completed a long range prison construction plan which shows that by the year 2005, more than 9,000 additional prison beds will be needed. This plan calls for four 1,500-bed medium security facilities and seven 400-bed minimum security facilities to be designed and built in the next ten years. This major expansion of correction facilities at the state level has also spilled over into the local communities. Oregon is providing construction dollars to over a dozen counties to allow for expansion of their local correction/detention facilities. In order to respond to the growing demand, the state has mandated that any inmate with a sentence of less than one year must stay in the local community. Integrus is involved in the design of a facility responding to this mandate in Douglas County.
Idaho and Montana are also currently in the midst of prison expansions. Montana has developed a concept of expanding correctional facility beds by partnering with local communities.
Integrus is currently designing two Montana state correctional facility expansions that are being developed in conjunction with
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| Control room at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, close custody housing.Photo by Robert Pisano |
The local communities in the state of Washington are also feeling the pinch of need for additional beds. In the early 1980s, the state Jail Commission helped counties across the state develop expanded correction/detention facilities. Integrus was involved in the design and construction of more than a dozen of these facilities. Fifteen years later, almost all of them have outgrown their capacity. King, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston Counties are all planning correction facility expansions along the growing I-5 corridor.
Equally important as the need for additional beds are the operational and management changes that have been occurring over the last fifteen years. There has been a gradual change from remote surveillance and indirect supervision to direct supervision.
Integrus designed the first two direct supervision jails in the state of Washington in the mid-1980s: Snohomish County Jail with 370 beds, and Spokane County Jail with 480 beds.
Direct supervision is a unit-management concept of an officer stationed within the housing unit, and a risk assessment approach to assigning inmates to housing units. The direct supervision model has proven effective in allowing the correctional staff to control the housing unit, rather than just view it from the outside. Services are brought to the inmate, thereby cutting down on inmate movement, operational and staffing costs. Staffing and operational costs have a dominant impact on the long term costs of a corrective facility.
Major growth has occurred in several states in the number of women incarcerated. In California, the number of women in prison is rising at a faster rate than men. Women's needs tend to differ from men's in correction/detention facilities. It is not practical to apply a standardized design from a men's facility to a women's facility; differences range from storage, medical and privacy needs to work programs and housing.
Integrus designed the original Washington Correction Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor in 1969, which looked much like a
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| Maple Lane School Maximum Security Housing, Integrus. Photo by David Stein |
The female inmate majority has changed quite a bit over the last twenty five years, and so has the facility. Over the last five years, Integrus has been working with the State Department of Corrections on a major expansion and renovation at WCCW. The perimeter security system has been upgraded, a 100-bed close-custody unit has been added to deal with the higher custody levels, and a 300-bed minimum security facility has been added along side of the existing institution. The food service, healthcare, industries, administration, recreation and mental health facilities have all been expanded to accommodate growth.
Another group that is growing in proportion to the total inmate population consists of those with special needs -- the mentally ill, physically and developmentally disabled, seriously ill, and the aged. Most correctional facilities are not designed for older or disabled inmates. As the growing needs of this population are recognized, new policies and procedures and design guides need to be established to respond to the special needs. Chronic illness, contagious diseases and sanitation must be taken into account when developing geriatric environments.
Juvenile correction/detention facilities is another active area of growth. The State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) has been planning and expanding several of their facilities. Integrus participated in a master plan for an expansion at Maple Lane School in Centralia, resulting in the addition of 72 medium security beds and a new 64-bed maximum security unit.
An equal amount of activity is also prevalent in the local communities. Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston and Kitsap Counties all have recent or current design and construction projects underway. Integrus completed a 150 bed addition for the King County Youth Services Detention Facility in 1991. Five years later, this facility has reached capacity and discussions are underway for future options.
This dramatic growth in the need for corrections and detention facilities has led to innovative approaches to deliver them. Several states have developed methods to "fast track" design and construction and bring beds on line sooner. These methods have included the utilization of design-build, construction management, lease-purchase and privatization. The states of Oregon and Washington have spearheaded the utilization of General Contracting/Construction Management (GC/CM) project delivery.
The Washington Department of Corrections managed the first two pilot programs of GC/CM in the state at the Washington Correction Center for Women and at Airway Heights Correction Center. GC/CM is an alternative delivery method to the traditional design/bid/build process typically utilized for public projects. GC/CM brings a construction manager on board early to work with the owner and the architect/engineer to manage costs, evaluate constructability and reduce potentials for conflict throughout the construction process. The success of these two pilot projects has led to state legislation authorizing other state agencies to utilize the GC/CM process.
The key to effective design and construction for corrections/detention facilities is allowing for flexibility to achieve a balance between changing inmate needs and facility operational needs. Participation in the planning and design process should involve individuals with diverse perspectives. Design plays a major role in the effective operations of criminal justice facilities. Including administrators, security staff, program staff, construction managers as well as architects and engineers yields a better product.
Larry Hurlbert, AIA, serves as principal-in-charge and project manager for justice facility design at Integrus Architecture. For over 30 years, Integrus has specialized in the planning and design of criminal justice facilities. Integrus' total criminal justice experience consists of more than 200 projects in 26 states.
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