Police Cell Block Upgrades - Upper Hutt & Porirua
Project Category:
Client:
Opus International Consultants
Construction value:
$450,000
Scope of Works:
The upgrade of the Suicide Prevention Facilities for the prison cells at Porirua and Upper Hutt Police Stations came with specific technical requirements. The very high security environment made for an interesting and challenging project with many unusual features. The overall objective was to protect the prisoners from committing suicide and to ensure their safety.
The Upper Hutt Police station housed 23 cells, used as overflow for Rimutaka prison and transferring of prisoners to court. The upgrade of these facilities took eight weeks. The Porirua facility is smaller with only 11 cells which were upgraded in six weeks. As both sites were fully operational through the entire upgrade the upgrade progressed through the facilities as cells became available.
The existing prison doors at Upper Hutt had their lower sections filled with iron sand and weighed approximately 200kg each. To upgrade the 23 doors, holes were drilled into the lower section of each and the sand removed so that the doors could be taken from site for modification and painting. Once each door was modified and upgraded, it was then returned to site, reinstalled and 5 buckets of iron sand put back into each one.
The redevelopment included replacement of existing lighting with new anti-vandal lights, the old bar style cell doors modernised with modern flush panel doors, new food hatches, 15mm triple glazed vision panels and new security key locks. The cells were totally redecorated throughout including the installation of new security toilets.
Given the purpose of these cells, significant security and Health and Safety procedures were required.
Special Info / Challenges:
Both upgrades were undertaken whilst the police cells were in use. On the Porirua site there was only one entry into the building which was shared by the construction team, the police staff and the prisoners. The project team would be working on a cell while the cells next door were occupied. On some days the team could not start work until the prisoners had gone to court in the morning. Much of the work had to be carried out off-site given the strict site restrictions so extensive planning was required to meet the timeframes. Excellent communication and project management was essential for this high security environment.
The Upper Hutt Police Station upgrade was undertaken in stages with the ground floor cells upgraded first, followed by the upper floor and women’s cell block ensuring that the cell blocks remained fully operational throughout construction.