The Environment is Never Neutral: Inside the ICPA Planning and Design Network's Mission to Build Better Corrections

__________________________________________________________________________________

It is easy to think of prison design as primarily a construction question: how much space, how much it costs, and when it will be finished. The ICPA Planning and Design Network exists to challenge that framing entirely. For the Network, the physical environment of a correctional facility is not a backdrop to what happens inside it. It is an active force shaping safety, dignity, rehabilitation, staff wellbeing, and the culture of the institution itself. Bringing together practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from around the world, the Network serves as the leading international forum for correctional planning and design knowledge. In this spotlight, it shares its perspective on the principles, evidence, and conversations that every correctional leader and policymaker needs to engage with before the first brick is laid. 

Could you introduce the ICPA Planning and Design Network and explain why the physical environment of a correctional facility is so important to the quality, safety, and humanity of the correctional experience? 

The Planning and Design Network is founded on a simple but powerful principle: the environment is never neutral. Every aspect of a correctional facility, from its overall layout to the design of a cell, health centre, classroom, visitation area, or staff workspace, shapes experiences, influences behaviour, and affects how people interact with one another. 

Correctional facilities are places where people live, work, learn, receive healthcare, maintain family connections, and prepare for life beyond custody. The quality of these environments can affect safety, wellbeing, dignity, and the delivery of services. Thoughtful planning and design can help create settings that support positive interactions, effective operations, and opportunities for personal development. 

The Network's role is to serve as the leading international forum for planning and design knowledge, bringing together practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from around the world to share lessons, emerging ideas, and practical experience that contribute to safer, more humane, and more effective correctional environments. 

What are the most fundamental physical standards that the Network believes no correctional facility should fall below, and how do these connect to international minimum rules? 

While there is no single model that will suit every jurisdiction, the Network is clear that certain standards should never be compromised. International frameworks such as the Nelson Mandela Rules and the ICRC's Towards Humane Prisons provide an important foundation by recognising the inherent dignity of every person and the obligation to provide safe, healthy, and humane conditions. 

From a planning and design perspective, this translates into environments that provide adequate space, natural light, ventilation, sanitation, privacy, and access to outdoor areas. It also means creating facilities that support healthcare, education, rehabilitation, family connection, and meaningful human interaction. Equally important are environments that enable staff to work effectively, safely, and professionally. 

Beyond individual design features, these frameworks reinforce a broader principle: correctional facilities should be planned and designed to support human dignity, wellbeing, and positive outcomes. While specific solutions may vary across jurisdictions, the underlying expectation should remain consistent — that correctional environments are humane, functional, and aligned with the outcomes that correctional systems are seeking to achieve. 

Prison design must serve very different contexts. How does the Network approach the challenge of promoting good design principles across such a wide range of resource and operational realities? 

The Network approaches this challenge by focusing first on purpose rather than infrastructure. Before discussing buildings, technologies, or standards, it encourages jurisdictions to consider the outcomes they are seeking to achieve and how physical environments can support those objectives. 

This is particularly important in developing nations, post-conflict settings, and regions facing significant resource constraints. In some cases, the most important question may not be what should be built, but whether new infrastructure is required at all. Good planning involves understanding population needs, operational models, community expectations, and policy objectives before determining the most appropriate infrastructure response. 

By bringing together practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from different regions, the Network provides a forum for sharing lessons learned and identifying approaches that are both effective and realistic, supporting better decision-making through evidence-based planning and design principles that can be adapted to any context. 

There is growing evidence that design affects not only security but also rehabilitation outcomes, staff wellbeing, and the mental health of people in custody. How does the Network bring this evidence into the conversations that shape how prisons are planned and built? 

At its heart, correctional planning and design is about people. While facilities need to operate safely and efficiently, they are also places where people live, work, learn, receive healthcare, maintain family connections, and prepare for life beyond custody. 

The Planning and Design Network works to ensure that evidence about these human experiences informs planning and design decisions. It encourages conversations that explore how environments can support staff wellbeing, create positive workplaces, facilitate rehabilitation, strengthen family engagement, and contribute to healthier and more respectful correctional cultures. By sharing international knowledge and emerging research, the Network helps correctional leaders make decisions that improve the quality of environments for everyone who uses them. 

Technology is increasingly central to modern prison design. How does the Network approach the integration of technology into design, and what are the most important considerations for correctional leaders? 

Technology is creating new opportunities for correctional systems to deliver services, support staff, and improve connections between people, programmes, and facilities. From digital learning platforms and telehealth services to intelligent security systems and tools that support staff workflows, technology is increasingly becoming part of the modern correctional environment. 

For the Planning and Design Network, the key consideration is integration. Technology should not be treated as a separate layer added after a facility has been planned. Instead, it should be considered alongside operational models, service delivery requirements, and the needs of staff, visitors, and people in custody from the earliest stages of planning. 

The Network helps bring together examples from different jurisdictions to explore what is working, what lessons have been learned, and how facilities can be designed to remain flexible as technology continues to evolve, ensuring that future correctional environments are adaptable, resilient, and responsive to changing needs. 

For policymakers and correctional leaders who may view prison design primarily as a construction and budget question, what does the Network most want them to understand about the long-term consequences of how a facility is designed? 

One of the messages the Planning and Design Network consistently promotes is that the most important infrastructure decisions are often made before a facility is designed. Good planning starts with understanding the outcomes a correctional system is seeking to achieve and then determining how physical environments can best support those goals. 

In some cases, that may lead to new infrastructure. In others, it may involve renewal, repurposing, operational change, or alternative approaches that achieve the same objectives more effectively. The key is ensuring that infrastructure decisions are driven by policy, evidence, and long-term correctional outcomes rather than by buildings alone. 

The environments created by correctional systems send powerful messages about what those systems value and what they expect people to achieve. Well-planned facilities can support safety and effective supervision while also providing healthy, dignified, and engaging environments for staff, visitors, and people in custody. When facilities are carefully planned and aligned with their intended purpose, they are better positioned to support staff, improve operational effectiveness, adapt to changing needs, and deliver long-term value.