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Why is Mt Eden Prison being replaced?
What will the Mt Eden replacement include?
What will the new buildings look like?
What will the new cells be like?
How will the Mt Eden Prison replacement contribute towards the government’s sustainability goals?
How much is the prison replacement going to cost?
When will the prison replacement be finished?
How will the construction effects on site neighbours be mitigated?
Who is Corrections consulting with?
Why is Mt Eden Prison being replaced?
Mt Eden Prison was built over 120 years ago. It’s obsolete and falls well short of modern prison standards. The replacement accommodation will see the end of Mt Eden Prison as an operating prison.
Replacing Mt Eden Prison will also:
Decommissioning Mt Eden Prison
Protecting the public, Corrections staff and prisoners is a primary concern for the Department. Although Mt Eden Prison is being operated safely, long-term use of the deteriorating building presents risks to Corrections’ operations and to staff, prisoners and visitors.
The prison is increasingly difficult to operate and ineffective to maintain. Extensive structural work such as moving exterior walls and the near-demolition of the interior would be required to make the prison suitable for ongoing prisoner accommodation use. This would severely damage the building’s heritage features.
Even at such a cost the prison’s design, layout and building materials mean it could never be brought up to modern prison standards.
Preserving the prison’s heritage features
An important consideration in planning the Mt Eden Prison replacement has been the protection and continued use of the historically significant Mt Eden Prison building. Renovating and refurbishing the building for staff and administration use will retain as many of its heritage features as possible. The oldest part of the building will be structurally upgraded and set aside for possible public access in future.
Closing the building and leaving it empty would result in further deterioration and would not make the best use of the Mt Eden site.
Making optimal use of the Mt Eden site
The replacement of Mt Eden Prison provides the opportunity for Corrections to improve the daily operation of the site.
Currently there is duplication of facilities and functions between Mt Eden Prison and the Auckland Central Remand Prison. The new support buildings have been designed to service the whole site.
The prison replacement has been designed to focus on remanded prisoners. Other prisons in the region such as Auckland Prison and Spring Hill Corrections Facility will continue to accommodate mostly sentenced prisoners.
The central Auckland site is ideally located for this purpose. Remanded prisoners are required to make regular court appearances and have more contact with legal representatives and other visitors.
The Mt Eden Prison replacement also includes building some of the infrastructure and support facilities required to future-proof the site. The site could accommodate up to 570 more prisoners if required. Some of these beds are planned to hold high-security remanded prisoners and others to hold near-release sentenced prisoners engaged in reintegration programmes. The need for and timing of these beds will be determined by the annual justice sector prisoner forecasts.
What will the Mt Eden Prison replacement include?
The replacement of Mt Eden Prison will include:
The total number of permanent beds at the site will remain at 720.
Mt Eden Prison and the Auckland Central Remand Prison will continue to operate during the construction period.
Corrections has obtained planning approval from the Auckland City Council and approval from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust to modify the prison’s archaeological features. A further application will be made for the conversion of the Mt Eden Prison building.
What will the new buildings look like?
The new buildings have been carefully designed to improve the appearance of the site and its fit with the surrounding environment. The buildings will resemble commercial office buildings with appropriate building materials, exterior finishes and colours.
An innovative ‘twin skin’ cladding system around the accommodation buildings will provide the level of security and privacy required while at the same time letting in daylight and giving the appearance of commercial buildings. A narrow service corridor will be provided between the cells and the building exterior.
The two tallest buildings will be eight stories high. Although taller than most surrounding buildings, they will not be out of place with the site’s environment. These buildings will be located to minimise their impact on site neighbours and on views of Mt Eden itself and the historic prison.
The scale and location of the new buildings were considered by the Auckland Urban Design Panel and commissioners appointed by the Auckland City Council. Both parties were satisfied the buildings would not have any significant negative effects on the appearance of the surrounding environment.
The Mt Eden site has a high-security rating. The prison replacement will allow for the introduction of modern security features more suited to the site’s environment and operation.
What will the new cells be like?
The new cells have been designed to be fit for purpose and meet the minimum requirements contained in legislation.
A typical cell will be approximately 3.6 metres by 2.6 metres and contain a single bunk, a bench or desk and a toilet and shower. The floors and walls will be painted concrete. There will be no underfloor heating or air conditioning in cells.
In most circumstances prisoners will be allowed to keep items in their cells such as a personal computer for approved study purposes and a small TV. These items must be approved by the prison manager, provided by the prisoner and operated within strict prison rules.
Prisoners only have access to free-to-air television stations. They cannot access digital stations, eg, Sky TV. Prisoners do not have internet or email access.
How will the Mt Eden Prison replacement contribute towards the government’s sustainability goals?
The prison replacement provides Corrections with an opportunity to incorporate the latest energy-saving features and ready the prison for the coming decades.
These features include energy-efficient building designs and materials, fittings and controls to limit water use and more efficient electrical and mechanical systems.
We need to consider four key factors when deciding which features to include. Like any other developer, we must weigh up the benefits and costs. We also need to work within the constraints of the relatively small Mt Eden site. Finally, we need to consider the security implications, discounting anything that may pose a security risk or could be tampered with by prisoners.
With these factors in mind, we are now carrying out feasibility studies on additional features that be included such as solar water heating and insulating glazing.
The prison replacement also provides an opportunity for Corrections to support the expansion of the building industry’s Green Star NZ rating system to include accommodation and other non-office buildings. This would allow us to seek a Green Star rating for the prison replacement.
In the meantime, we will adopt the principles of the Green Star system in the design, construction and operation of the new facilities.
How much is the prison replacement going to cost?
In May 2008 the Minister of Corrections announced government approval of funding to replace Mt Eden Prison.
Capital funding of $216.3 million was approved, of which $110.3 million was included in Budget 2008. Corrections is contributing $106 million.
Most of the cost will be for construction. Other major costs include transition and commissioning costs.
The cost includes the new accommodation buildings to replace Mt Eden Prison, new support buildings to service the whole site, the conversion of the heritage building for staff and administration use and some future-proofing of the site.
Funding of $9.5 million to date has resulted in the completion of the detailed design work, a tendering round to select the main construction contractor and planning approvals from the Auckland City Council and New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Fletcher Construction is the main construction contractor.
The Mt Eden Prison replacement is a different type of project to the Regional Prisons Development Project (RPDP) that saw the construction of four new prisons in recent years. The relevant findings from independent reviews of the RPDP have been applied to the Mt Eden project.
Unlike the RPDP, the Mt Eden project does not require a new designation to be obtained nor does it have the same time pressures to provide additional beds to meet prison population growth.
The Mt Eden project has developed a construction strategy that minimises risks and works within the construction industry conditions. The project has been subject to a number of independent project reviews including design, cost and value management and regular quality assurance reviews are carried out. Changes have been made to the project as a result of the reviews.
When will the prison replacement be finished?
Following three months preparing the site, the Fletcher Construction-led team started the main construction work in early October 2008.
The new accommodation and support buildings are scheduled to be fully operational in 2011. Once Mt Eden prisoners are moved into the new accommodation buildings, work can start on renovating the historic prison building for staff and administration use.
How will the construction effects on site neighbours be mitigated?
Corrections and the Auckland City Council have agreed to a construction management plan covering issues such as:
Corrections is making additional provisions necessary to maintain security at the site during the construction period.
Who is Corrections consulting with?
Throughout the planning of the prison replacement, we have consulted with the Auckland city and regional councils as well as the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and local iwi representatives. We are also continuing to discuss the prison replacement plans and any effects with our immediate neighbours.
As the site is already designated, we have not been required under the Resource Management Act to undertake a full public consultation process as would be the case with a new prison site.
We will continue to provide project updates online.
We welcome questions and feedback about the prison replacement to the project email address: MEACRP@corrections.govt.nz.
Media should contact the Communications Unit: commdesk@corrections.govt.nz or phone (04) 460 3365.