Susanna Shearer
N0443504
Nottingham Trent University
Interior Architecture (Year 4)
1.) HMP Nottingham, Site Visit
Site Analyis and Analysis of Questionaire Results
1.) HMP Nottingham
Figure 28 - HMP Nottingham Entrance
“HMP Nottingham expanded in 2010 to hold 1060 prisoners. It is a community prison which holds prisoners from the surrounding area. This allows prisoners to keep close links with their families, Offender Management services and agencies they engage with. HMP Nottingham is committed to working in partnership to deliver shared outcomes that serve to protect the public and reduce re-offending” (JUSTICE, 2015, ONLINE).
While visiting, I was taken on a typical prisoner’s journey by officer David Schubert which was an invaluable experience and helped relate emotionally to prisoners. The prisoners first enter through the secure vehicle entrance before going onto the reception where they are placed in holding cells while being assessed. The holding cells are extremely basic with bright, artificial lighting which created an unpleasant environment. These hostile interior aspects may impact the vulnerable prisoner’s well-being and perhaps create unnecessary feelings of stress and fear upon arrival. Their next destination is the health care unit followed by the induction wing where they stay for a maximum of 1 week before getting allocated a permanent wing.
Analysis of visit, questionnaire and interviews
Questionnaires were distributed to 72 inmates and 14 wardens at HMP Nottingham, to ascertain their opinions in relation to the internal environment including factors such as exposure to natural light and noise levels.
“80% of the inmates suffer from personality disorders and 20% suffer from mental health disorders at HMP Nottingham” (SCHUBERT, 2015). These statistics reveal that it is extremely important to help rehabilitate the inmates and aid their time spent behind bars in a conducive way.
During the expansion, the design was inspired by the Victorian prison radial layout. “Radial layouts are efficient in the sense you can get to incidents quickly, I can get to any wing in less than a minute” (SCHUBERT, 2015). This reveals that a layout favouring security is key at HMP Nottingham in order to keep the inmates under control. This design is also proficient due to the fact less staff are required when this layout is in place which benefits the economy of scale. However, 43% of the staff agreed that the layout wasn’t successful at encouraging interaction between inmates with 35% undecided. “Staff-inmate relationships are key to managing suicide risk in prison”( UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 2015, 1). These statistics indicate that HMP Nottingham’s layout is currently not favouring staff-prisoner relationships; this may have a negative impact on the inmate’s mental health and rehabilitation process.
“By prioritising efficiency over rehabilitation, this new generation of bargain-basement holding pens are cutting out crucial spaces” (WAINWRIGHT, 2015, ONLINE).
In one out of the six wings there are collapsible tables and chairs in the walkways which enable prisoners to interact with each other while eating their meals instead of sitting by themselves in their cells. This is a positive factor for the inmates due to the change in scenery and opportunity for communication. However, it is difficult to provide this for all inmates due to the risk of incidents that are likely to happen in communal areas (SCHUBERT,2015). “A dinner hall on each wing needs to be created as we cannot keep on eating meals in our own toilets”( HMP NOTTINGHAM INMATE, 2015). It is extremely unhygienic that the majority of inmates at HMP Nottingham are forced to eat their meals so close to their toilets. “We ain’t animals, remember that” (HMP NOTTINGHAM INMATE, 2015). This reveals that it may be a consideration to create alternative eating spaces to positively impact the prisoners’ well-being.
Figure 30 - Wing A,B,C Plan
Figure 29 - HMP Nottingham Site Plan
“Windows were an important part of the new design for ventilation purposes as well as increasing the natural light into the interiors” (SCHUBERT,2015). However, despite the increase in windows in the new design, 83% of the inmates agreed that they’d benefit with having more exposure to natural light at HMP Nottingham. Therefore, it could be questioned that this design attribute was derived from an organisational point of view instead of a solely rehabilitation basis in order to save on costs for services such as air conditioning due to the increase in natural ventilation through the windows. 86% of the staff agreed that natural light is an important factor. This proves that exposure to natural light is a key factor in the prison to positively benefit the inmates' rehabilitation process.
“Nottingham prison is not safe enough and conditions are poor, a government report has revealed” (BBC, 2015, ONLINE).
It was observed that noise levels were increasingly loud in the wings. These high noise levels are likely to have a negative impact on the well-being of the inmates; 65.2% of the inmates agreed that high noise levels were unsettling for them. Moreover, 68% of the inmates agreed that they’d benefit having access to some more quiet areas in this prison. This further reveals that noise is a big issue for the inmates and needs to be addressed.
85% of the inmates agreed that they’d benefit with more indoor open spaces, which implies that HMP Nottingham is currently lacking these spaces. It may be beneficial for the inmates to have access to larger spaces when they’re out of their cells in order to relieve tension and to positively impact their well-being. This can be further reinforced by the fact that 63% of the inmates believe they don’t have enough access to outdoor, green spaces. However, this could be difficult to implement due to the likelihood of incidents arising in communal areas.
"If you are trying to maintain order and limit the amount of staff then a Victorian prison is ideal. If you are looking for privacy and discrete areas then the Victorian model doesn't work" (ROHRER, 2007). Only 26% of the inmates agreed that they had enough privacy; this reveals that the majority could benefit with more secluded areas to positively aid their rehabilitation process.
The inmate and warden questionnaire results which can be accessed from the link below, reveal that the majority of inhabitants are not satisfied with the overall interior conditions at HMP Nottingham including the lack of exposure to natural light and the high noise levels.
Figure 31 - Typical HMP Nottingham Cell
Figure 32 - HMP Nottingham Wing
Possible Improvements
As noise appears to be a common recurring problem around prisons, better acoustics and suitable noise-dampening materials could help lower noise levels. Furthermore, silent/peace rooms could be a viable solution to help relieve tension amongst the inmates. Karl Lenton has designed therapeutic moveable pods to create calm, quiet environments for prisoners while receiving healthcare.
Lenton states that, “prisons by their very nature are loud environments, made from materials that amplify sound. Seeds' inner foam core is used to dampen and mask these external sounds of prison life, so conversations can take place inside Seeds without people having to raise their voices to be heard” ( DEZEEN, 2015). Seeds appear to be a positive solution to combat noise issues in prisons as well as creating spaces specifically for rehabilitation purposes.
In the questionnaire results, many inmates suggested that changing aspects of the interior finishes such as different wall colours in cells and wings would be beneficial. The inclusion of more comforting decor features would consequently create a more therapeutic interior environment for the inmates and staff.
