monolithic prisons

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By David B. South

Can a Monolithic Dome be designedas a prison or jail? The answer is anemphatic Yes. In fact, if there are anybuildings that ought to be MonolithicDomes, they are jails and prisons.

Consider just a few of the advantagesof the dome over conventional designs:

* Monolithic Domes cost less tobuild, operate and maintain.

* The domes interiors can be openand clear, free of supporting pillars orcolumns and free of walls that createhiding places. That openness providesclear views of all activities at all times,and those better sight lines translateinto less staffing, and thats where thebig money is saved.

* A Monolithic, steel-reinforced con-crete shell is impenetrable. Inmatessimply cannot chisel or knife their waythrough it.

Some twenty-five years ago, Mono-lithic devoted a lot of time and moneyto jail and prison design. We knewthat incarcerating facilities should betotally fire safe and impenetrable fromboth the outside and inside. Throughresearch, we also learned that few jailsand prisons are insulated. Apparently,insulation was skipped to cut costs --an unnecessary forfeiture in a Mono-lithic Dome where the opposite is true.Rather than increasing costs, a domesinsulation holds utility costs to a mini-mum.

Larry Byrne, our designer, traveledextensively inspecting facilities and talk-ing with prison officials to learn whatwas needed. Larry then began drawingjails and prisons of various types andsizes.

But nothing happened. In 1980, wedid not have a serious number of com-pleted domes we could point to, andnone were prisons. So our plans metwith the usual resistance. Conventionaldesigns were the norm that peoplewere used to, and they didnt want tochange or even listen to some far-out,new ideas.

But we did design a full, 1200-bedfacility for the State of South Carolina,that, for political reasons, never got

The Monolithic Dome As a Prison?

built. We designed other facilities aswell. All of that information is still good.

We can still build and operate jails forless.One of our more interesting experi-

ences with prison design happened in1986. A California Superior Court Judgeordered the County of Santa Clarato buy a Monolithic Dome prison.He made that decision after hearingon-the-stand testimony from Californiaprison officials. A Prison Director testi-fied that a Monolithic Dome jail lookedjust fine to him, and the Santa ClaraCounty Sheriff said that he had done

a lot of investigating of MonolithicDomes and felt that they would servethe Countys needs well.

Unfortunately, supporters of a con-ventional jail plan got the judges deci-sion overturned. Two years later, theCounty Sheriff called me. He said, Ithought you should know that we nowhave our new jail. What you had prom-ised to build for $6.5 million in eightmonths, cost us $16 million, took twoyears and does not have any of theimprovements you would have incor-

porated.So why havent we pushed harder on

jails? Its my wifes fault. One day Judysaid to me, David, do you really wantyour Monolithic Domes best known asprisons and jails? I didnt.

Till then, we had been constructingbulk storages and a few designed build-ings. Had we started with prisons andjails, we probably would not have beenable to get into the school and church

market.But now that Monolithic is somewhat

established in church and schooldesign, incorporating prison design intowhat we offer should not strike poten-tial clients as weird.

The accompanying PDFs include anumber of preliminary designs for fed-eral, state and private prisons and jails.Obviously, the drawings are a few yearsold, but the problems are still the same,as are the solutions. Please feel free todownload the PDF.

After reading this, many peoplewill want to know: How much? The

answer: Substantially less! If you basethe pricing on what Monolithic is doingwith schools and churches, rest assuredthat we will design and construct pris-ons for substantially less than the priceat which they are currently being built.And ongoing costs for prison staffing,utilities and maintenance will also beless.

Then too, a prison or jail built in theround simply functions more efficientlyas an incarcerating facility. Sight linesare clear so theres a better view of

all that goes on. Sprayed concrete ismuch tougher than conventional con-crete. The amount of heating and cool-ing is vastly reduced. But the speed ofconstruction is substantially increased,so that time from plan to finish is reallyquite rapid.

Detention Facility


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Private RTC FacilityDesigner: Larry Byrne

Description: Two Monolithic Domesenclose this private temporary housing for

parole violators, a Return-to-Custody or RTCFacility.

Centrally located, the Control Room has easy

access and view of the four separate day-rooms. This facility comes complete with

classrooms, kitchen and a small infirmary.

The Dormitory and Dayroom Dome is 168diameter and 56 tall, enclosing 22,168square feet. The Administration Dome is 120

in diameter by 40 high and has 11,310 squarefeet.


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Facility: County Jail and Sheriffs Office

Designer: Larry Byrne

Description: Seven Monolithic Domesenclose this county jail facility.

Housed in a separate 124 dome, the Sheriffs

department can operate without interruptionsfrom the jail, yet is close enough for easy

access.

Alongside the Sheriffs department, the 124admitting dome also has crime lab facilities.

The central administrative dome for the jail is75 in diameter and 4,410 square feet.

Each of the 100 x 33 housing units have 24

beds on each floor for a total inmate capacityof 192. Both medium and minimum security

domes are shown.

Facility: Youth Detention Center


Description: Youth detention center consist-ing of one 70 diameter administration and

booking dome, one 90 diameter male securitydome and one 60 diameter female security

dome.

The administration dome comes completewith visitor area, separate holding areas for

young men and young women and offices.

The housing units include 4-person cells aswell as single unit cells. There are 39 beds inthe male security dome and 19 in the female

security dome.

County Jail and Sheriffs Office

Youth Detention Center


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Facility: 1200 Bed Prison


Description: A 1200 bed prison designed forthe state of South Carolina. The project neverwent through to completion due to lack of statefunding.

Perfect line of sight is the ultimate advantagegiven by a Monolithic Dome prison. A two storydouble-dome housing unit can house up to 120inmates in single cells or 128 in double cells.Shown here is the medium security housingdesign in two 112 foot diameter, 37 foot talldomes with 120 beds in single cells.

Visitors enter between two 140 foot diametervisitors domes into the 108 foot diameteradministrations and operations dome. Each vis-

Prison Facility 1200 Beds

Prison Schematic

itors dome has an 11,488 square feet openarea.

The Reception and Evaluation dome (110 x37) encompasses 9500 square feet with all the

modern facilities.Program Services, in a 100 dome, accom-

modates a pharmacy, infirmary, chaplin, 2500square foot multi-purpose room and offices.The educational facility, also in a 100 dome,comes complete with classrooms, library, andmore.

The centrally located kitchen in a 150 diam-eter, 17,000 square foot dome creates optimumwork areas and easy access to the separate

dining halls two for inmates, one for staff as well as private access to the storage/unloading area.

Separate double gymnasiums are surrounded

by locker rooms, exercise rooms and office ina 25,450 square foot, 150 diameter multi-pur-pose center.

Located between the multipurpose center anddining hall a 90 diameter dome houses theample laundry and storage areas, commissary,canteen and barber.

A non-denominational chapel (60 x 25) withrooms for ecclesiastical counseling provides anoptional religious center.


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Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Receiving and Evaluation - 110 x 37


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56 Beds per Dome - 108 x 36 Domes,Maximum Security, Solitary Confine-

ment

Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Housing - Maximum - Solitary

First Floor

Second Floor


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Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Housing Domes - Maximum - Double64 Double Cells per Dome - 100 x 33Domes, Maximum Security

First Floor

Second Floor


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Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Housing - Medium112 x 37 Domes, Medium Security

First Floor

Second Floor


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Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Housing - Medium Security32 Double Cells, 64 Single Cells - 112x 37 Domes, Medium Security

First Floor

Second Floor


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Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Multipurpose Center - 180 x 60


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Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Laundry, Commissary & Canteen - 90 x 30

Kitchen & Dining - 150 x 50


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Prison Facility 1200 Beds (cont.)Maintenance - 100 x 33

Chapel - 60 x 25

Vocational Training - 84 x 28


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California County Jail FacilityDesigner: Larry Byrne

Description: Two Medium Security HousingDomes, Two Special Security Housing Domes,

One Central Visitors Dome.

The central 110 diameter, 9500 square footDome is designed for personal visits as well

as visits from Attorneys and other Counselors.

Each of the housing Domes has a totalof approximately 15,300 square feet on two

levels. The cells on the bottom floor are 88square feet. Cells on the second floor are 78square feet.


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California County Jail Facility (cont.)Visitors Dome Visitors Entrance

Security Entrance


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California County Jail Facility (cont.)Special Security Housing Dome

First Floor

Second Floor


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California County Jail Facility (cont.)Medium Security Housing Dome


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California County Jail Facility (cont.)Typical Cell Dimensions


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Wyoming County JailPreliminary Concept 172 Diameter Administration Dome120 Diameter Security Dome54 to 64+ Inmate Capacity

Preliminary Concept 272 Diameter Administration DomeTwo 50 Diameter and One 92 Diameter Security Domes for Juveniles68 to 76+ Inmate Capacity


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High Security Jail


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84 Bed Jail


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84 Bed Jail (cont.) Possible Expansion

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