HMP Whatton - New Greenfield Prison Development

As a Constructor within the National Offender Management Strategic Alliance, Caledonian works as Principle Contractor, providing construction services within prison establishments throughout England and Wales. HMP Whatton, completed in early 2006, is one of Caledonian’s largest contracts to date with a total value of £46M. The project involved a major expansion of an existing prison, providing:-

408 new prison places
a 1000 inmate kitchen serving existing and new accommodation
visitors centre, sports hall, gatehouse, reception, education and workshop buildings
all security, fencing and external works.

The gross internal floor area of the development is 16,583m2.

The specific challenges included the requirement for completion within a 12 month construction programme. This was successfully achieved, making Whatton the fastest ever new build prison project. Additionally the project included a number of sustainability initiatives such as rainwater harvesting and extremely high thermal performance standards, achieving BREEAM excellent.

Caledonian led the design process, ensuring that the buildings were cost effective in both capital and operational terms. Off-site construction principles were applied to all buildings with innovative techniques developed for delivering concrete floors within the modular structures. Even the sports centre, which included a full size basketball court, was constructed using modular techniques. Caledonian’s concrete floored modules were also utilised to enable buildings such as the 1000 place kitchen achieve the high degree of robustness required.

Value: £46M
Programme: 50 weeks