Redesigning prison: the architecture and ethics of rehabilitation

Since 2011, the authors have been undertaking research-based activity to improve the environment of prisons for the people and communities they serve. Spanning two major projects concluding in 2017, the work has developed an evidence-base and practical proposals for design measures to support health and wellbeing, reduce reoffending and make the state assets of land and buildings more effective in delivering outcomes. Prisons sit within the wider regime of Justice in the UK and as such the organisational and operational context is key to the delivery of change in commissioning and design. A multidisciplinary, collaborative approach has been pursued, via small groups of experts to ensure the work is properly informed. Extensive stakeholder and user engagement have been central to the research, including with prison officers, management and staff, as well as prisoners. The work has significantly contributed to the prison reform agenda, though the architectural outcomes are yet to be realised. The paper argues that for true reform to be effective and sustainable, a reappraisal of the ethics of justice that reconsiders the status of people on custodial sentences is necessary. The current circumstances make such a public debate timely and capable of precipitating the proposed changes.