Behind the wire of the new build at Waikeria Prison

Saturday, 12 October 2024

On being released from jail, this man grabbed the opportunity to work on a prison build with both hands.

Waikeria Prison is a place you hope never have to visit but if you do, the new build should exceed expectations.

The Waikato Times toured the nearly completed facility south of Te Awamutu so that you don’t have to.

Work started on site in late 2018, and the prison should be hosting inmates by mid-2025.

There’s an earth tone palette for the outside of the prison, a stark comparison to how prisons are portrayed in the movies.

Vistors and staff will have to have their belongings go through X-ray scanners when they arrive.

Waikeria Prison Site Liaison, integration and consolidation manager, Kevin Smith, said they’re trying to step away from a hardened look around prisons.

The main administration block has a variety of training rooms, which Smith admits will most likely exceed their needs.

When visitors first arrive they will be greeted by a security area that looks more like entering an airport, and will be required to go through security screening machines.

The health centre will cater for all those in prison.

Smith points out the mail room, which has a different circulation system to the rest of the building.

“Occasionally we have issues with people sending in white powder, for example. We don't know what it is so we have to shut the mail room down when that happens.

“We've got a button over there that will shut the air off so you can isolate the room as opposed to the need to evacuate the entire building.”

The staff will have change rooms on site, with their own lockers, and a room to store 500 pieces of stab resistant amour.

Waikeria Prison Site Liaison, integration and consolidation manager Kevin Smith in the new prison bakery.

There’s around 340 custodial employees which is likely to swell to about 455.

“Plus all the other support people like case managers, nurses and all those other groups that are associated with prison…So, realistically, staff numbers are going to be north of 700,” Smith said.

The tour moves outside to covered walkways.

The grey boxes host the plumbing so it can be worked without people having to go into inmate cells.

“The roof only goes so far, and then they've got a gap, and none of them join to a building. So if the prisoners were to get on one they can't go too far unless they're an Olympic long jumper.”

All the down pipes are either shrouded or they break away at the top when they’ve got weight on them, to prevent inmates climbing them.

If you’re entering prison due to unwanted steel cuffs, it could be in a vehicle through the Gatehouse which is large enough to cater for a B-train truck and trailer.

One of the new cell blocks in the Waikeria extension, cells are double bunked.

It has a biometrics sign-in like other areas for staff. There is underfloor vehicle surveillance, number plate recognition.

On the way out the vehicle will have leads akin to jumper leads attached to the vehicle to detect any possible heartbeats inside that shouldn’t be there.

There is a control centre where a team will be watching the comings and goings around the prison via numerous security cameras.

A new industrial kitchen and bakery will have capacity to produce for other prisons on large scale.

Designer felt has been used on walls and roofs to absorb sound, “as at times prisons can be a noisy place.”

Each wing has its own day room and exercise yard, which vary in size between six and nine prisoners.

In the mental health and addiction service - Hikitia, there's an interview room, a de-escalating room, also a sensory room, along with a couple of small programme rooms.

The Waikeria extension which is being built inside the exisitng prison.

“There are no bars on the windows, as it’s not conducive to mental health treatment. The mental health precinct is new territory for corrections because what we used to have is at risk and high intervention support units so this is a step up from that really.”

In the mental health cells are single bunk with a built in television, shower and toilet, whereas the regular cells are double bunked.

Staff can control the building's temperature and water systems.

Waikeria has tried to step away from that really hardened look around prisons.

“So no cooler than 18 degrees or hotter than 26 year round. Water control allows you to regulate how many times the toilet will flush a day, how many times the shower will run, how long it will run for the temperature and shut it off.”

On the outside of the units there’s external cages around exposed bathroom pipes so if they need attending to it can be done without going into the cells.

When functioning, the kitchen will produce about 2200 meals three times a day. There will be a minimum of three days of raw meals and three days of cooked meals on site at all times.

“Potentially we could supply other prisons, and the kitchen could employ 40 to 50 prisoners who could be working towards food related qualifications.

“New Zealand police have looked at the design and potential use of the kitchen and laundry. It would also allow us to support Civil Defence in an emergency community event.”

In the kitchen all the services are in the ceiling.

“We've got steel gantries up there that people can run around and they do all the servicing there. So everything from the ground up is in the concrete slab, there's 26 steel plates that weigh 880 kgs each and everything vertically is off there.”

Attached to the kitchen is the bakery, which can produce 2400 loaves of bread and 4800 pies a day.

The new Health Centre will cater for the entire prison, so Smith said they thought about what they needed to limit offsite medical escorts.

“There are treatment rooms for optometry, dentistry, physiotherapy, x-ray and dialysis…We generally have at least one prisoner on dialysis.”

The prison has a 100-year design life.

As modern as it is, it’s nice to know we can exit the 1.7 secure perimeter fence when we want to.