Can a prison be humane? In socially progressive Scandinavia, perhaps. The Danish Prison and Probation Service and architecture firm CF Møller have designed what they’re calling the world’s “most humane” maximum security prison .

About 70 miles southeast of Copenhagen, in the town of Gundslev, Storstrøm Prison looks more like a university campus than a typical prison. Both the architecture and social policy at the prison aim to reduce recidivism by emphasizing rehabilitation, an approach that Scandinavian countries employ. Sweden, for example, has a recidivism rate of about 40%, which is about half that of the U.K., which has a traditional incarceration system. Scandinavia’s approach hinges on creating an environment that’s as close to normal day-to-day life as possible, which benefits both the 250 incarcerated individuals at Storstrøm and the prison guards.

“We truly believe, and evidently the statistics support us in this, that a hard and less-stimulating environment creates more re-offenders,” Mads Mandrup, an architect and partner at C.F. Møller Architects, tells Co.Design in an email. “As such the traditional, less humanistic prisons keep crime levels status quo.”

The grounds are modeled after a regular Danish village, complete with open space and buildings with distinctively Scandinavian architecture–think angled facades, lots of glass, and natural materials. You won’t see anyone “behind bars,” so to speak, as the individual cells look more like dorm rooms with windows, a bed, a private bathroom, desk, and reading lamp. There’s no central cafeteria; instead groups of four to seven cells share communal kitchens where they prepare their own meals. They also share a living area, which is furnished and painted so it doesn’t have an institutional feel.

But is better architecture the key to reducing repeat offenders? “It would be naive to think that architecture can achieve this alone,” Mandrup tells Co.Design. “Therefore, the general master planning and overall functionality of our scheme is a balancing act of creating a human interface, not only among the prisoners themselves but also towards the staff that play an important role in the many daily resocializing routines of the prison.”

The “resocializing” strategy essentially involves mirroring the routines of free people so that when the prisoners–who are mostly incarcerated for violent crimes–are released, they’re acclimated to law-abiding life. The prison’s outdoor spaces are landscaped like a grassy park and there are even a few sculptures. “Streets,” meaning paved walkways, connect all the buildings and there are dedicated structures for workshops (all of the prisoners have to work), a grocery store, a church, a visitor center for families, a playground where incarcerated individuals can see their children during visitation, and a library.

Still, the prison is very secure. It’s separated from the surrounding area–mostly rural farmland–by a 20-foot-tall concrete wall. There are over 300 cameras in the prison and the floor plans of the buildings are arranged so that guards can easily see everything.