Update, New Salt Lake City Correctional Facility - Under Construction
Project to Watch: Why the Utah State Prison Looks Like a College Campus
Correctional News:
SALT LAKE CITY — There’s a “term of art” that continues to emerge in corrections facility design circles — “human scale.” The concept was one of the guiding lights for the design of the new Utah State Prison, scheduled to debut in Salt Lake City in 2022.
The college campus–like, 4,000-bed facility will be comprised of small units distributed over two floors, replete with windowed doors that open into a shared day room. The units will be aligned with natural light patterns made available by
large windows in a commons area for each bank of units. Locally based GSBS Architects worked with national architecture firm HOK and Miami-based CGL on the design of the project. The main design goal of the new Utah State Prison in
Salt Lake City is to focus on rehabilitation, normalizing day-to-day life for inmates. The approach echoes the tenets of Utah’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which launched in 2015 as a means of reducing inmate numbers and recidivism
by “normalizing” the incarceration environment. As a recent article in Utah’s Deseret News put it, the undertaking reflects a “radical theory” in prison design wherein “inmates who live in a normal environment adjust more quickly to normal
life upon release,” and it “begins with architecture.”
The main design goal of the new Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City is to focus on rehabilitation, normalizing day-to-day life for inmates.
Photo Credit: Conceptual Rendering by Prison Relocation Commission
Coupled with improved occupational and educational programs baked into the overall design, the Utah State Prison could be an exemplar of the future of prison design. The trend is, at least in part, precipitated by a couple of factors emerging
across the nation’s prison system.
“Two things are happening — the population is getting older in prisons and you’re dealing with more mental illness,” said Robert Glass, executive vice president and director of planning and design at CGL.
The firm put an emphasis on making “spaces smaller, a little more ‘open’ feeling.” Glass added, “Good colors, good natural light and things, seem to go a long way to help both those populations.”
The design decisions also benefit the staff who have to work with a population that’s shifting from what Glass termed “lighter-custody inmates” who are benefitting from states’ budget-driven early-release programs, to a remaining
population of “harder-custody inmates” that are better managed in “smaller unit subdivisions.”
“You try to reduce the numbers of people you’re dealing with,” said Glass. “The mental illness brings in the type of inmate that can be, day-to-day, a little hard to handle. The older inmates, who are getting some dementia, can also
be hard to handle, so it’s easier in smaller units to handle them.”
Glass added, “Half the battle with these facilities over the years is having staff have a real nice place to come to work. They’re ‘sentenced’ to eight hours a day there, everyday, too.”
Bringing more design-savvy features to the inmate experience also facilitates rehabilitation, said Glass, whose firm is seeing some of the fruits of their labor realized in a recently completed Southern California facility.
“One of the best ones right now is the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in San Diego,” said Glass, whose team was instrumental in its conception. “They’re doing a remarkable job with the re-entry programs there. That’s a
really open design; it has palm trees inside of it, grassy areas, all sorts of things. I think it’s actually doing two things — the inmates are more successful and I think the staff feels a lot better about working there.”
Throughout these projects, Glass said his firm endeavors to maintain a sense of proportion with the environmental needs of the inmates.
“Really, what we’re trying to do, is keep them low scale. In the mental health facilities, we’re trying to keep them all one level, not even an upper mezzanine level like so many facilities have,” said Glass, who emphasized that these are
normal-scale buildings similar to that of a housing development. “We’re also trying to get more space between them now so that there aren’t tight, narrow corridors or fenced walkways.”
Glass said that there has been little critical blowback for the contemporary design approach. He said that critics, if there are any, are usually more concerned with the cost of managing the inmates.
“The critical blowbacks are just on the cost to run these things nowadays. The cost to incarcerate the inmates is about the same as the cost to go to college now,” said Glass about the annual expenditures incurred by counties and states.
“That’s the push and the impetus now — to get these facilities working better so that people don’t return to prison.”...
At Nearly $1B, New Correctional Facility to Be Largest in U.S.
"This project is the largest detention project in the nation," said Michael Ambre, assistant director Utah Department of Facilities Construction and management. "Detention facilities are never a popular project to build, but because of the
planning and long-term goals to reduce recidivism, this facility will have a massive impact on this state for generations to come."
More than 200 people are working on the project, with multiple buildings under construction. The prison site is 1.3 million sq. ft. on 170 acres.
"There is a detailed operational plan to manage 3,600 inmates," said Ambre. "Currently, Utah Department of Corrections supervises inmates in an indirect model, meaning they monitor through cameras and screens. At this facility, the
officer will be in and among the inmates' direct supervision. Studies show this reduces recidivism." The site required great efforts to prepare it for construction. There will continue to be dewatering challenges, as crews work the underground.
According to Ambre, installing prefabricated cells one at a time is proving to be an effective approach in building the new prison."Anytime you can prefabricate building materials, both quality and schedule improve. Imagine three or four
different subcontractors needed in an 8-ft. x 10-ft. space to finish the space. In a prefabricated scenario, all finishes are done in an assembly line fashion, then shipped fully fitted out to be picked and set."
The molds for the cells were transported to Utah from the eastern states to the Oldcastle/Amcor precast plant in Ogden. "They are cast in the molds, and completely finished inside before they are shipped to the site. A two-cell unit is loaded,
one per truck, at a weight of 66,000-plus pounds. They are escorted up the highway during restricted hours of the day." Crews use a 350-ton crane for installation, with a short boom to maximize the capacity. The process is comparable to
stacking Legos. "They literally stack the second level on top of the lower level cells," said Ambre. "They are pinned together with a structural connection." The majority of big concrete pours are large mat footings on which to set the cells.
Each is 400-plus cu. yds. Crews also are responsible for building a physical barrier separating the men's and women's units.
"As part of the American Corrections Association standards, there needs to be sound/sight separation between male and female populations; therefore, we comply. Very few, if any other, facilities exist that contain all classifications within
one secure perimeter. This facility will have all classifications within one secure perimeter, making it unique." During the lengthy construction process, officials have had to deal with a series of delays and cost overruns.
"It has been extremely challenging and continues to be a challenge, due to the current construction industry in Utah," said Ambre. "There are material increases due to tariffs, and labor shortages due to the booming economic growth.
"In the construction world here in Utah, and across the United States, there is a shortage of skilled manpower. At peak, we could see as many as 1,500 workers daily at the site." Ambre added, "Things are tough, but we are maintaining.
Moving forward, we will struggle to get needed equipment and the labor force." The team is currently tracking to substantial completion in the end of first quarter 2022, although the prison won't likely open until late in the second quarter.
... The build-up of the overall site to the construction levels has already been completed, as well as installation of much of the
underground sewer lines. Establishment of water mains and project access roads have also been addressed, with work at three utility lift stations under way. Crews also have temporary power to the site. A significant amount of work remains.
There are a total of 30 buildings, some of which are not as large and not as hardened as others. A number of them have yet to be bid and work started.
The exterior walls of nearly all the buildings are tilt-up concrete that are poured in two steps, with 4-in. special rigid insulation cast between the exterior and interior layers of the walls. The pouring and finishing take place on horizontal casting
slabs, and then large cranes lift the sections and carefully swing them into place. Weather has been a concern, but not a significant one. "We had a short period of really wet weather, and then the most recent cold spell; however, the work is
moving along well," said Ambre. "We have lightning software that alarms if lightning is within a half-mile of the site. All work stops and workers take refuge. Safety is our highest priority."...
...Construction milestones include the erection of walls, the installation of roofs and the completion of site utilities. Crews have imported just over 1.5 million tons of material to build up the site.
Main equipment being used on the job includes cranes, forklifts, manlifts, light plants, pump trucks and conveyor belt trucks. Concrete, steel, rebar and conduits are among the materials required.
Layton/Oakland is the general contractor for the project. Big D/Kitchell is the managing consultant/project management.
According to the official website, a modern state correctional facility is needed to fully implement criminal justice reform by replacing a facility that lacks adequate space for treatment, rehabilitation, education and job-training programs that
prepare inmates for reentry into society. The new structure will also use technological innovation and advancements in security systems that allow for more efficient management of the offender population...
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