Using Salutogenic Design on Correctional Facilities to Improve Health & Wellbeing and Facilitate Rehabilitation (PID015)

11am – 11.30am EDT, 25 April 2024 ‐ 30 mins

Room: Ballroom

Parallel Workshops

Architecture carries great social responsibility and that is just exacerbated when talking about custodial facilities. Researchers have emphasised for years the importance of the built environment on the rehabilitation and consequent reintegration of inmates into society.
This presentation will show how the use of research-based design could guide and inform planners and designers on how the use of salutogenic architecture in custodial facilities can facilitate inmates’ rehabilitation and help the reintegration process. It will use data collection from a research project as well as case studies to show how an architecture practice in the UK have welcomed research-based design to integrate the principles of Salutogenic design into their prison projects.

Moderator

Hans Meurisse

Prison Administration, ICPA, Belgium

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Speakers

Helena Pombares

Prison architect specialist/ Lecturer/ Researcher, University of West London, United Kingdom

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Timothy Irons

Central Government Director of Operations, Pick Everard, United Kingdom

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Hans Meurisse

Prison Administration, ICPA, Belgium

Hans Meurisse holds a master degree in Criminology from the Ghent University and also participated in several post-graduate courses, which allowed him to gain profound knowledge of public, financial and penitentiary management, forensic matters, Business Process Reengineering, and organised international fraud.

He started his professional career in 1986 with the Judicial Police, where he eventually was appointed Chief Investigator. In 1999, Hans became the Prison Governor of the Ghent prison. His work was mainly focused on managing the detention of convicts, remand prisoners, and mentally ill prisoners on an operational level. In September 2006, he was appointed as the Director General of the Belgian Prison Service.

Hans Meurisse was the Director General of the Belgian Prison Service for more than 11 years, from 2006 until 2017. During that time, he also served as President of the European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) for 6 years after being appointed in 2011. He was also a former member of the Board of Directors of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) from 2009 until 2011 (2nd International Vice-President) and from 2014 until 2017 (Ordinary Board Member). During his previous tenures with the Association, Hans hosted the ICPA Annual Conference in 2010 and provided support to ICPA through staffing, logistical and administrative services including the appointment of the Tineke De Waele as Executive Director.

Following his Presidency of the organisation, Hans served as a Senior Advisor and International Expert with EuroPris. Today he serves as Vice President of ICPA since 2019 and plays a key role on the Board of Directors. He is also involved in ICPA’s various initiatives and events, where he brings his expertise in technology, planning and design, and statistics. In his manifesto for serving as Vice-President, Mr Meurisse remains committed to enhancing the collaboration between ICPA and others internationally, with a key focus on building relations in Europe and Africa.

Helena Pombares

Prison architect specialist/ Lecturer/ Researcher, University of West London, United Kingdom

Helena is an architect and criminologist with 18 years’ experience in justice architecture, and a lecturer at two universities in the UK. Helena is also at the final steps of her journey on a professional doctorate degree, researching how to reshape prison design for the 21st century using salutogenic architecture. She joined Pick Everard, to connect research evidence and practice base. Helena’s most recent contribution has been the HPM Glasgow project and the UK Ministry of Justice Women’s Estate scheme. Her research on salutogenic architecture of carceral spaces feeds her passion on the effects the built environment has on the users of the space, like staff and inmates, using the evidence found to inform planning and design of carceral spaces to positively impact society.

Timothy Irons

Central Government Director of Operations, Pick Everard, United Kingdom

Architect Tim Irons leads work in the Justice Sector for Pick Everard as a specialist for over 20yrs. He led design for various new build resettlement and expansion programs for the UK Ministry of Justice. Tim’s passion for design lies on the positive impact it can have on the lives of people and its ability to reduce recidivism.