Justice design reflects on how we structure our society. With new thinking afoot and critical issues such as prison overcrowding to the fore, tp bennett has assembled a strong team to address this increasingly important sector.

Wider than the design of prisons alone, justice design includes a hinterland of security-related architecture and design from police facilities to immigration buildings, laboratories to courts. As well as designing new facilities, we use evidence-based design to improve security, aesthetics and safety and technology: as the area’s major client, the Ministry of Justice has taken a powerful lead on BIM.

Innovation and social purpose are both important in this risk-averse sector. With accommodation just one part of prison design, creating amenity spaces or food, work and education are vital, as well as restorative activities such as vocational training and counselling – the ultimate aim being to increase ‘normalisation’ and make justice design a beneficial force.