- Largest prison redevelopment ever undertaken in Victoria.
- No best practice model to use as guide – new risk-based studies developed.
- Innovative cell and fire safety guidelines have reduced prisoner self-harm and improved their safety.
- Defect-free handover.
Reducing the incidence of prisoner self-harm, increasing prisoner protection from fire and improving overall prisoner amenity and wellbeing were issues that the Department of Justice in Victoria was keen to address in the largest prison redevelopment ever undertaken in the state.
With little precedent for this type of work, Arup undertook a review of cell safety, developing a self-harm risk profile for prisoners. By identifying which prisoners were most at risk, their location in the prison and the factors influencing their propensity to self-harm, the study helped to determine a targeted scope of works. Fire safety issues were addressed in similar fashion, with Arup studying how a fire is initiated and how prisoners and prison respond.
As project manager, Arup was directly responsible for over AU$100m of the $295m capital works programme. The firm’s scope comprised one new prison, the upgrade of infrastructure and additional prison beds at a number of existing prisons, the implementation of a statewide cell safety programme and the decommissioning of three older prisons.
One of the client’s requirements was to achieve zero defects at project handover. This was achieved by managing a collaborative effort between contractor and design team, monitoring quality and marrying design expectations with construction standards early in the project, all within tight cost and programme constraints.
As a result of the development of innovative cell and fire safety guidelines and the overall management of the programme, instances of prisoner suicide in Victoria have fallen significantly.
The project ran from 2001 to 2005.
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