Projects

New Mt Eden Prison: the best of both worlds

By Jenny Baker

The new Mt Eden Prison buildings will incorporate the best of modern prison and environmentally sustainable design while safeguarding an important Kiwi historic landmark.

Auckland’s inner city Mt Eden Prison will be decommissioned in 2011 and replaced by a new state-ofthe- art remand facility.

Two new accommodation buildings will replace the prison’s current capacity and new support facilities will allow for more efficient site operations. The 120 yearold prison building will be restored and refurbished for staff office accommodation and possibly a small public
museum.

The Department of Corrections awarded the main construction contract to Fletcher Construction. Work will start in July this year. Mt Eden Prison and the Auckland Central Remand Prison, which shares the site, will continue to operate throughout the construction period.

The two new accommodation buildings have 450 beds, but the site design and future proofing allow for up to 570 more beds to be added if required. Some of these beds are planned for a reintegration unit to prepare near-release sentenced prisoners to successfully move back into the community.

The new support buildings, which will be shared by the Auckland Central Remand Prison, include a secure single site entrance or gatehouse, a multi-level car park for staff and visitors, and a prisoner services building including a visits centre.

Department of Corrections project director, Rob Stevens says a prison has existed on the Mt Eden site since 1856. Modern services such as electricity and running water have been retrofitted over the years, but the prison’s design, shape and layout mean “it can never be brought up to standard for ongoing custodial use”.

The existing prison’s design makes it difficult to prevent contraband such as cellular phones and prohibited substances being thrown over the walls into exercise yards.

In addition, prisoners do not have sufficient weatherproof recreational areas, making prisoner management more difficult for staff. For this reason an option to upgrade the prison was discounted early in the project, while the upgrading option’s high costs and severe impact on the building’s heritage features were also undesirable.

In May this year the Government approved capital funding of $216.3 million for the project. Says Mr Stevens: “Although the prison is being operated safely, long-term use of the deteriorating building presents risks to Corrections’ operations and to staff, prisoners and visitors.

" We have a responsibility to house prisoners safely, securely and humanely. The current prisoner accommodation falls well short of acceptable standards and staff and visitor facilities are inadequate.”

He says the new facility has been designed mostly to accommodate remand prisoners. Sentenced prisoners will be accommodated at other regional prisons including the new Spring Hill Corrections Facility.

Cabinet approved an Outline Plan of Works last year, and the Auckland Urban Design Panel, which advises the Auckland City Council about large projects, responded favourably to the design for the site. The new accommodation and support buildings will be completed by 2011 and the restoration of the heritage building by 2013.

Throughout the planning and design processes, the Department of Corrections and its architect, Stevenson& Turner New Zealand, have consulted with the Auckland City and Regional Councils, the Historic Places Trust, local iwi representatives and the site’s immediate neighbours. “A lot of thought has gone into the planning and design. We benchmarked ourselves against best international prison design practices,” Mr Stevens comments.

New and future proof
According to Mr Stevens, Mt Eden is an ideal location for a remand facility due to its proximity to Auckland courts and access for legal representatives and other visitors. The project however, presented the planners with several aesthetical, practical, and safety challenges to ensure its sustainable operation in an urban environment.

Stevenson & Turner, well established here and in Australia, incorporated the most up-to-date prison design features for the new buildings.

The small site means some buildings had to go upwards rather than outwards. The two tallest buildings will be eight stories high, taller than most surrounding buildings, but are located on the site to ensure a good fit with the surrounding urban environment, and to minimise their impact on site neighbours and views of Mt Eden (Maungawhau) and the historic prison. Building materials and exterior finishes were chosen to ensure the buildings resemble commercial office buildings.

The urban location of the site also requires the Department of Corrections to provide a high level of security with minimal use of standard prison features, such as high metal fences and razor wire. The new design compensates with safety features such as secure underground walkways to move prisoners safely between buildings.

An innovative ‘twin skin’ cladding system around the accommodation buildings will provide the level of security and privacy required, while at the same time letting in daylight and giving the appearance of commercial buildings. Glass and louvered exterior cladding will wrap around an inner secure concrete exterior and ensure visual screening of prisoners in cells from neighbouring properties. A narrow service corridor will be provided between the cells and the building exterior.

A new single entrance point will provide additional security and help reduce the amount of contraband brought into the prison. In addition, measures will be implemented to prevent prisoners from using prohibited electronic communication instruments such as cellular phones and Blackberries.

Prisoner accommodation meets the requirements of New Zealand legislation and United Nations recommendations. A typical cell will be 3.6 metres by 2.6m and contain a single bunk, a bench or desk, and a toilet and shower. The f loors and walls will be painted concrete. Prisoners may generally keep personal items such as a small television set in their cells, operated within strict prison rules. To help manage prisoners, the design allows for managed use of buddy cells, generous day rooms with good daylight, and several exercise yards.

Mr Stevens says the prison replacement provides the opportunity to incorporate the latest energy-saving features to ready the prison for the coming decades.“These features include energy-efficient building designs and materials, fittings and controls to limit water use and more efficient electrical and mechanical systems. Roof runoff water will be used in toilets and to irrigate the water wise gardens.

“The Department of Corrections is carrying out feasibility studies on additional features that may be included such as solar water heating and insulating glazing. The Green Star NZ rating system doesn’t currently apply to prisons, but the Department is adopting these principles in the design, construction and operation of its new facilities, including the Mt Eden Prison replacement,” he says.

Old but still good to go According to Mr Stevens, preserving the Mt Eden Prison building’s heritage features has always been a key part of the project. The building has a category one Historic Places Trust rating and is also a notable Auckland landmark due to its unique architectural features and role in New Zealand’s social and judicial history.

“There are no plans to demolish the heritage building. It’s not suitable for prisoner accommodation, but it can be strengthened to an acceptable standard for staff and administration use. The interior will be totally refurbished to make it a pleasant working environment for staff in line with modern office standards. “This will be done in accordance with conservation guidelines and respect for the building’s heritage features. The interior hasn’t been designed yet but we aim to include environmentally sustainable features where practical,” he says.

Exterior stonework on the surrounding wall will be restored, and the guard towers, razor wire and other features that detract from the heritage value will be removed. The plans include the demolition of miscellaneous buildings on the site that have no heritage value. The original Mt Eden Prison buildings were constructed with a tight budget using prison labour.A neighbouring quarry provided the stone and by the mid 1870s prisoners had completed the stone wall that surrounds the prison today.

In 1882 prisoners began excavation work for the building that would be based on the traditional English prison design. Mt Eden Prison was to be New Zealand’s ‘model’ prison, based on the view of the then Inspector of Prisons that such facilities should be “. . . unpleasant places to be dreaded”.

In its time, the prison has housed many of New Zealand’s most notorious criminals. It also hosted political leaders like John A Lee, incarcerated as a youngster for theft, and Bob Semple and Harry Scott Bennett, for political dissent. It is notorious for the hangings that occurred until capital punishment was outlawed in the 1960s.

Much of the prison was damaged in a prison-wide riot in 1965, blamed partially on overcrowding and substandard conditions.

“Given the current poor state of the prison, its replacement will be welcomed by many,” Mr Stevens says. In April Mt Eden made international headlines when a prisoner, since recaptured, made a classic escape. The man used a rope made of bed linen to lower himself to the ground from one of the prison towers and over a razor wire topped wall . . . a dramatic end to a bygone era.

1. A new accommodation building with 300 beds
2. A new accommodation building with 150 beds. Buildings 1 and 2 replace the old Mt Eden prison
3. A new secure gatehouse entrance to the site
4. A multi-level car park providng on-site parking for staff and visitors
5. A new prisoner service building with a central visitor centre
6. Renovation of the old Mt Eden Prison for administration and staff use, and to strengthen and protect a nationally significant historic building
7. The existing Auckland Central Remand Prison