A Centrifugal Force
Jail design has come a long way since the days of the Panopticon, a circular prison design introduced in the late 1700s that was created to allow officers to observe inmates from a central vantage point without allowing the inmates to see who is watching.
Jurisdictions have several options when considering plans for new facilities and renovations, but officials in El Paso County, Colo., found that the centuries-old Panopticon design still had merit in modern times when it came time to design a new housing wing at the cramped county jail.
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Typically, deciding to build a juvenile detention facility that accommodates small groups of kids requires adding staff to the payroll. If Mary Ann Wooley had taken this formula as a truism, she might have shied away from endorsing plans to build a new podular detention facility for juveniles.
Canada’s federal prison system embraces the highest design principles found in corrections facilities. "We’re interested in design, but not at any cost," says Michel Blais, project leader for Correctional Service Canada. "What we’re seeing is that we can add a great design for the same price as a bad design."