HMP Dovegate & Expansion

Solution

A new-build category B prison near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, HMP Dovegate opened in 2001, with an extension built in 2009. Currently holding around 1,060 male prisoners, it was one of the first prisons to be funded by PFI and became a showcase for innovative penal design.

Dovegate had the first separate therapeutic community: a 200-bed space offering daily group therapy for serious repeat offenders. Within the cells, it replaced harsh-looking stainless steel sanitation with resin products, and further softened the environment by painting each wing a different colour. It also introduced the first in-cell showers: an important factor in prisons where shower blocks have long been a problematic area. “Prison design is often about these small improvements,” says tp bennett’s Daniel Dominguez.

On top of these innovations, Dovegate provides education for inmates, including literacy, numeracy, IT and vocational skills, as well as healthcare and drug and alcohol counselling, with the guiding principle being to avoid future reoffending and reduce risk.

The project was designed by tp bennett’s Kevin Bell and Daniel Dominguez while at Capita Property and Infrastructure.