Modular builder develops prison cell to help tackle jail overcrowding crisis

INNOVATIVE: Integra Buildings managing director Chris Turner, left, and head of technical Richard Constable with a modular cell

By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor

An East Yorkshire-based offsite construction business has developed an innovative modular custodial cell which could hold the key to tackling the prisons overcrowding crisis.

Modular specialist Integra Buildings has designed and manufactured the cell, which has been fully tested to ensure it complies with Government standards.

Sir Keir Starmer described prisons overcrowding as “shocking” just days after being elected as Prime Minister and said the situation was “worse than imagined”.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood subsequently announced thousands of prisoners will be released early to ease the pressure on crowded jails, with many prisons labelled as being “on the brink of collapse”.

Integra says the modular cell offers a perfect solution to the challenge of increasing prisons capacity to address overcrowding.

Extensive tests have been carried out successfully at the BRE Science Park in Watford – one of the UK’s leading research and testing facilities – with the durability and security of the unit put under rigorous examination. The tests demonstrated that the unit meets all the relevant Government regulations.

The unit is ready to be deployed at pace and scale immediately and could be the “silver bullet” the Government is looking for to tackle the prisons overcrowding crisis.

PROBLEM-SOLVER: The modular custodial cell undergoing testing at BRE Science Park in Watford

It will enable capacity to be increased rapidly, avoiding the huge costs, long timescales and other challenges of renovating crumbling, often Victorian, prison buildings or building new jails.

The cell also provides a permanent, robust and easily maintainable solution for a range of other criminal justice and detention settings.

Chris Turner, managing director of integra, which has its headquarters in Paull, east of Hull, said: “Prisons overcrowding is without doubt an issue of significant public concern and a major priority for the new Government.

“We believe modular construction can and should play an important part in addressing this issue.

“Our unit is ready to be manufactured and rolled out right now. Modular construction has numerous advantages over traditional building methods and we have a bespoke, fully-tested unit which can help tackle the prisons overcrowding crisis, as well as being deployed in other custodial settings.”

Built with a concrete base, and incorporating innovative composite materials, the unit combines traditional and modular building practices to create a robust, non-combustible cell.

It can be built in a variety of sizes, with the smallest cell measuring 2.6m x 3m, and includes a shower, toilet and washbasin.

The modular cell can be provided as a single standalone unit, a conjoined unit or stacked together to create an entire building. Cells can be added to existing prison sites to create much-needed additional capacity, or sited at other secure locations.

The cell is designed for Category C prisoners – those who pose a lower risk to the public and who make up a large proportion of the prisons population.

The nature of modular construction means the units can be easily extended or relocated, should the need arise, offering the flexibility to respond to prison capacity pressure points across the country.

Modular construction is more cost and time efficient than traditional methods, and is also inherently more sustainable, with less waste material produced and greater control of production processes and project management.

Integra’s modular unit has met Government technical requirements for cells accommodating Category C prisoners and is compliant with what is referred to as “breach and ligature criteria”, ensuring inmates would remain safe and secure.

Ahead of the General Election, the Ministry of Justice had announced plans to build six new prisons to create an additional 20,000 places.

The new Government has re-affirmed it wants to build more prisons in the future, but further details – including how those prisons will be built – have yet to be announced.