The world’s prisons are home to an estimated 10 million people globally and this number is rising. The prisons population has gone up 10% since 2004, and in some countries, such as Indonesia, the increase has been as high as 183%.

These people are not necessarily hardened criminals. Around a third of prisoners globally haven’t even been found guilty – they are on pre-trial detention.





There are many issues of concern when working with prison populations such as access to legal services, prevention of torture and justice system efficiency. But also key is the design and construction of the buildings where prisoners will spend their time: the prison itself. So what makes a good prison, and why is it is so important to get the design right?





Wearing their distinctive pink uniforms, people suspected of involvement in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide line up before re-entering Kigali’s central prison from a day at work in the fields next to the prison. Photo: Karel Prinsloo/AP



Isabel Hight has spent over 35 years advising on prison development and management in East Timor, Liberia, Sudan, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Congo for organisations like the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Having recently retired, below she reflects on her work.





Why is the architectural design of prisons so important from a human rights and humane treatment perspective?

Architecture sends a silent message to everyone walking into any place. It tells you what to expect and where the limits of behaviour are. Prisons are the same. In my view, design is crucial to creating an environment in which prisoners can live and not become institutionalised. This means providing spaces for staying in contact with families, work, education, and playing sport.





How easy is it to persuade governments in developing countries to build well-designed prisons?

Governments generally recognise the need, but hospitals or schools often take priority. They can be receptive to donor funding of new prisons. But large scale imprisonment is primarily a western concept and donors can be tempted to build prisons similar to those in their own countries. Historically colonial powers such as the Belgians, French and British built prisons that were essentially replicas of what they had back home.





Prisons, inspired by nineteenth century prison architecture, can be found around the world. Photo: Alamy



Is this what you see on the ground? Why are these prisons so problematic?

Yes, in Africa, for example, if you are familiar with nineteenth century British prisons you can recognise instantly similar layouts in former British colonies. Large, two to three storey buildings, long corridors, rather like you see on [the BBC series] Porridge. These prisons, designed based on outdated ideas about incarceration and now very decrepit, are still in use – and their limitations made worse by overcrowding. Living spaces built for 20 but holding two or three times that number are not unusual.





Why is it important to take local cultural values into consideration?

What it comes back to is the purpose of imprisonment. If you want prisoners to lead a more law abiding life when they leave, for example, then it’s essential to design buildings so they can keep up with social practices and community life. This means factors like eating arrangements – do you sit and eat communally, do you eat in isolation in your cell? To eat alone is socially unusual in most communities, and can be quite alienating and institutionalising.





Is developed countries using a design from home still an issue?

Yes, this is still a challenge. A prison I know of in Asia was built based on the design of a European high security prison – it’s single cell and without heating. You can’t have a prison in that particular place without heating and single cells were alien to staff and prisoners. Prisons like that are under-used or abandoned.





Congolese inmate displays her voter card in a detention cell in Geti prison. Photo: James Akena/Reuters

What do design teams and architects need to think about initially?

Choosing the location is the first issue. Prisons need to be where people are, near large population centres: prisons need staff; prisoners need to attend courts, lawyers need to see their clients; prisons depend on community services ranging from rubbish collection to health services; families need to visit.





What sort of thing typically goes wrong when a prison is badly designed?

Inadequate water supply is a common problem. I know of prisons that have been built where the water is, say, a kilometre away and that wasn’t factored into the costing so the prison is really unusable. It’s a similar story with electricity.





The women’s wing of Pul-e-Charkhi prison on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: Sean Smith for the Guardian



What happens when infrastructure is badly designed or fails?

When the design doesn’t work, prisoners and staff try to find a solution. If the kitchen isn’t working, for example, prisoners will organise supplies from outside, and start cooking in unsuitable places like sleeping areas. This creates problems with hygiene and vermin. And like anything limited in prisons, food can become currency. It will be controlled by prisoners or the staff and that can lead to abuse and corruption.





How does architecture impact the mental health of prisoners?

It varies. What we do know is that very restricted environments where prisoners are isolated from staff and each other quickly have a negative impact on everyone. It’s really best to design the flow of movement of staff and prisoners so there is contact between them. Providing activities also helps. In some prisons I know of, companies have supported workshops in prisons, and prisoners can then go on to work for them once released.





Colonel Abdull Wahed, logistical director of Pol-i Charkhy’s prison, smokes a cigarette as a prison cook prepares lunch for more than 300 prisoners at the jail in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP

You must have seen some very disturbing things in your career ...

I’ve seen the very best of conditions, some awful conditions and much in between. I’ve seen the consequences of poor sanitation, insufficient food, lack of natural light, lack of fresh air, dilapidated living areas, overcrowding. But in most places the staff are doing the best they can. Doing harm is not what drives them. Of course repressive regimes, and prisons designed to do harm, exist. But where repression is not the intent, poor conditions and treatment are usually the result of a lack of know how and resources. Attitudes to prison design have also changed since I started my career because of the greater possibility of travel. Donors often sponsor developing country prison officials’ attendance at international conferences, training and study tours, all of which can and have a marked impact when they return home.





Source: Architecture and prisons: why design matters