Case Studies: Corrections
Hendry County
Jail Addition
With downtown site constraints and a limited budget, Hendry County needed to solve several jail issues while determining the long-term status of their existing jail. Any solution would need to be cost- effective, secure, and staff-efficient and also accommodate future expansion with possible relocation to another site.
As Principal-in-Charge and part of the RQAW Corp. team, Joe Mrak conducted a feasibility study to investigate several design options for Hendry County. The final design selection added 96 beds to the existing jail, with a single control room directly monitoring both 48-bed dayrooms. A secure connection was created between the existing jail and the addition to accommodate the movement of support services and inmates to recreation areas. The design concept for the entire addition allows it to be repurposed or relocated to a new site in the future. To achieve this, a pre- engineered steel building and 12 8-man modular steel cells were the foundation of this flexible design. These cells can be relocated and incorporated into a new jail location while the pre-engineered building shell can be repurposed as a maintenance/storage facility.
This innovative solution delivered the project within a very stringent cash budget, extending the useful life of the existing jail and providing flexibility for future decisions about the jail with a cost-effective solution that can be relocated to a new jail site.
Client:
Hendry County Board of Commissioners
LaBelle, Florida
Project Roles:
Principal in Charge, Architect of Record, and Lead Designer (as RQAW team member)
Project Team:
RQAW Corporation
Key Accomplishments:
The innovative solution met a very stringent cash budget, extended the life of existing jail and provided a cost-effective solution that could be relocated to new future jail site.