Founded 1980
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Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


Issue 91 Autumn 2024
Michael Selby
OVER THE WALL AND SOME OBSERVATIONS ON PRISON DESIGN

The opening paragraph of Over the Wall brought back painful memories. Brixton had to accept the role of taking Category A prisoners for which it was not designed and the Mini wing from which the escape took place was designed and built as Escape Proof, was assured!

However, more interesting to me was "Good riddance or sad loss?"

I took part in a BBC programme "Time Watch" and was the consultant on prison design.
The design of Pentonville was unique in that it provided Integral sanitation for the first time. The idea failed because of material design weakness, especially with the piping of cast iron.

One evening I examined a pipe in an unauthorised search of the works rubbish and realised that, whilst the outside was smooth the inside had NOT been smoothed- so you can realise what I found. Of interest, is that the prison service intention of integral sanitation was BEFORE Buckingham Palace! Queen Victoria, it seems, preferred earth closets

The Holloway design disaster is also interesting. When working at the Home Office I met the architect socially, and he complained of design confusion. He had spent a morning with P4 and could make no sense of their proposals. So, I invited him to supper and with John McCarthy tried to sort him out. But the end result is a disaster. There are no security provisions, and the external wall is a crinkle crackle design!

Next the design of the main building is a monstrous 0, with the centre becoming an intended marketplace of social interaction. However, within the 0, one had no idea where one was! Staff and inmates circled round and round trying to find themselves.

One result of this was that Brixton was required to take female prisoners who qualified for category A status. These were fascinating but it would be indiscreet, even so long ago, to provide details.



MICHAEL SELBY