Grieve Gillett Architects was successful on a competitive tender for a major addition to the existing Mount Gambier Prison. The works involved an additional 160 beds, medical services and programmes building, an indoor gym and indoor basketball court. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) used the project as an opportunity to extend the project scope to also include relocating the existing prison administration function to outside the prison secured perimeter.

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As a result, improving external access to prison administration, addressing safety for administrative personnel no longer needing to enter the prison, and improving operations by reducing numbers entering the prison precinct.

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With growing prisoner numbers across the state, DCS were unable to provide certainty on the accommodation requirements for the new Administration Building given likely future prison expansions. GGA responded with a building design that sensibly exceeds current forecasted needs, but of uniform cross section so that future expansion requirements can be accommodated by simple additions to the building length.

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The building’s uniform cross section with perimeter offices, services areas and plant spaced along a central open plan office area, allows natural light and ventilation through a clerestory roof over the space, while long views are maintained at each end of the central space. The building sits within its context by referencing the adjacent existing gatehouse’s materials and expression.