Sectors - Civil

Pick Everard Appointed to Design New Prisons



Property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard is to play an integral role in the design of four new prisons. The consultancy firm has been appointed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to build new prisons in Yorkshire, the North West and South East of England as part of its New Prisons Programme (NPP).

The MoJ and HM Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) aims to deliver a decent, safe and secure estate which supports offender rehabilitation. These four new prisons will be designed with this in mind and will provide prison staff with the necessary tools to prevent offenders from being drawn into further criminal activity whilst serving their sentence in custody.

Operating under Perfect Circle’s unique collaboration, Pick Everard has been appointed as client designer for the project, with procurement and delivery being accelerated through SCAPE, the UK’s leading public sector procurement authority. SCAPE’s direct award and fully managed framework will also help drive collaboration, efficiency, time and cost savings over the four sites.

Tim Irons, Director of Architecture at Pick Everard said: ‘’We are delighted to have secured this role working in partnership with the MoJ to progress this significant building programme, which is the first MoJ client design appointment of this scale.

“Following the successful delivery of common designs at HMP Five Wells and Glen Parva, this next phase of intense construction activity will deliver not only much needed prison places for the MoJ, but importantly environments sensitively designed to bring the best possible outcomes for those passing through them as they reach the end of their sentences.

“We are continuously improving our solutions for resettlement focussed facilities to ensure they support both residents and staff to achieve more and are excited to now stretch the sustainability features of our designs to achieve BREEAM Outstanding and ambitious reductions in operational energy demand.’’

Robin Seaton, HMPPS Programme Director for New Prisons, added: “We look forward to working with Pick Everard and Perfect Circle as we embark on the design and construction of our newest prison builds. It is essential that we get the design right to deliver Ministers’ and HMPPS’ commitment to modernise and improve prisons, making them more secure and better equipped to rehabilitate prisoners. We are confident that Pick Everard will help us to meet these aims.”

The NPP will initially develop the design for four new prisons – the first of which will be located in Full Sutton, Yorkshire, with a further three locations to be confirmed. The Pick Everard team has commenced a baseline design review, which began last month (October). This will be followed by the development of a suite of reference designs, which will be used to deliver the four new prisons together with potential expansions of existing sites.

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