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 | | TERRAPIN SELECTED FOR NEW CUSTODY UNIT | | | Terrapin | | 25/03/2008 | | | Accommodation modules constructed offsite by Terrapin provided a fast and flexible solution when HM Prison at Channings Wood needed to create a temporary custodial unit. The Category C training prison near Newton Abbot, Devon, opened in 1974 and further buildings were added in the 1980s and 1990s but it recently needed extra capacity to hold up to 64 more prisoners. The Channings Wood unit is the latest in a long series of custodial solutions provided by Terrapin.
Terrapin worked in association with main contractors De Boer Structures and Interserve, to supply and construct a new block consisting of 28 modules that provided 32 two-man cells, each with an ensuite shower and toilet, as well as group activity rooms, a food servery and ancillary facilities. The building also includes a central atrium area to provide a traditional prison layout of a first floor open gallery with staircases.
By building the modules offsite in a controlled production environment, Terrapin can achieve higher production accuracy so that the modules fit together quickly and easily on site. The modules can be constructed offsite while the ground works are being carried out, so Terrapin’s approach is ideal for accelerated build programmes. At HMP Channings Wood the time from design completion to the production of the modules was just seven weeks, which was followed by a further nine weeks on site.
Modular construction is also ideal where buildings are erected on tight or difficult sites. In this case the new unit was to be built in a compound within the main prison site, and HMP escorts were provided to give security to materials and workers. The constraints of the site were overcome by delivering the modules outside of the main fence and then lifting them into position using a 500t crane with an 80m span.
A further advantage of modular offsite construction is that the buildings can be easily tailored to the specific requirements of the client, and can still be built around standard elements. This means that if the needs of the client change the building can easily be reconfigured or even re-located.
Terrapin is a privately owned company and is one of the UK’s leaders in off-site construction. It has been expanding the potential of MMC since 1949 and now offers a range of complementary MMC technologies that can be used individually or combined to create bespoke building solutions for every application; panel based technology, volumetric design technology and steel framed element build technology.
Terrapin is the first company to be accredited under Buildoffsite’s new supplier registration scheme operated by Lloyd’s Register. The scheme standardises all aspects of the offsite process and ensures best practice, offering clients confidence in the assured levels of competence, methodology and safe working of the accredited supplier. | |
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