Client: Department of Corrections
Year: 2020-2022
The Southern Remand Centre at the Risdon Prison provides up to 156 beds for remandees (a remandee is a person held in custody pending the outcome of a court hearing including those who have been convicted but not yet sentenced). Previously remandees were housed within the existing prison facilities.
The Project Cost was approximately $80 million and included two similar but slightly different two storey accommodation buildings, and a health and recreation building, together with associated upgrades within the Risdon Prison Complex including modifications to the Gatehouse, Visits, and Health areas.
JMG’s role commenced with assisting the selection of the most suitable site on the Risdon property for the new complex taking constructability, flooding, flora and fauna and aboriginal heritage issues into account. JMG were subsequently engaged by Xsquared Architects to provide engineering and planning services including civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, fire detection and protection, and hydraulic design. Fire Engineering and security engineering were provided by other specialist consultants.
The design philosophy was based on offender rehabilitation in contrast to previous prison facilities which focused more on robustness and security. This is particularly evident in the external areas, which feature exercise areas and equipment, gardens and soft landscaping. The design also featured improved acoustics, use of natural light, connection to open spaces and landscape, and use of a mixed colour pallet.
The structural design of the buildings was challenging due to the recent amendments of the seismic resistance requirements. Extensive use of insulated precast panels was made to maximise the energy efficiency of the buildings.