The challenge
Amey was approached to upgrade the digital court facilities at HMP Pentonville. The project was delivered as part of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) strategy to help reduce unnecessary court attendance. The solution was required to deliver cost efficiencies across the service and a reduction in the risk associated with the transportation of prisoners – both in relation to Covid-19 and associated disturbance.
Amey’s response
Amey worked closely with the MoJ major project team and staff at HMP Pentonville to develop a robust project management framework and plan. Due to the secure nature of the prison environment a modular construction solution was selected, allowing the build to occur off-site. This solution reduced the project timeframe, cost, and environmental impact with minimised disruption to custodial services.
Amey’s supply chain completed the off-site assembly of the two-storey modular digital court facility in a single location and foundation groundworks were undertaken at the prison to prepare the site for
delivery. Once assembled, the modular digital court facility was delivered to HMP Pentonville and lifted into place by a 530-tonne crane from outside the prison walls onto the pre-prepared foundation located within a courtyard area of the prison.
This stage of the project had to be carefully managed and involved close collaboration with multiple stakeholders. The team engaged with Transport for London on the closure of major travel and bus routes into central London and worked with the local authority’s highways team to ensure road and utility assets wouldn’t be damaged by the crane’s weight while undertaking the lift.
Once lifted into place, the Amey team mobilised and commissioned the new digital court facility ready for use. The team installed utilities, power and CCTV security - ensuring the assets were correctly recorded on the Computer-Aided Facility Management system (CAFM) for maintenance and compliance auditing purposes.
Outcomes
- Entire project delivered in just 3 months
- Multi-party engagement resulted in minimal impact to the prison and local environment
- The new facility allowed court hearing activities to resume
- Associated risk was significantly reduced
- The space has provided a facility that can be adapted for future needs