Scotland’s only prison built under the Private Finance Initiative has accepted its first prisoners only 16-and-a-half months after Kvaerner Construction started work on a derelict site outside Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire.
Kilmarnock prison was finished in record time using a specially designed and developed prefabricated building system to set a new prison construction benchmark. The prison is 12 per cent larger than Kvaerner Construction’s first prison at Lowdham Grange in Nottingham where this building system was developed.
Director responsible for the PFI team at Kvaerner Construction, Paul Gandy, said: "We set a benchmark with the speed of construction on our first prison in Nottinghamshire and to have recorded a faster rate of construction at Kilmarnock is a great achievement by the whole of the PFI team."
Kvaerner designed, built and equipped the prison to a tight schedule and delivered the fast-track programme despite the 500-cell category B establishment including eight two-storey wings, a chapel, healthcare centre, educational centre, visitor accommodation and a major workshop complex, as well as state-of-the-art security systems throughout. Kvaerner, as is usual on its PFI projects, used its in-house M&E company, Kvaerner Rashleigh Weatherfoil, and this significantly contributed towards the speed of design and construction.
Premier Prison Services, with whom Kvaerner worked in partnership on both completed prisons, will run the complex for the Scottish Prison Services for the next 25 years.
Kvaerner and PPS are engaged on three more PFI awards - a young offenders’ centre at Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, a secure training centre near Consett, and a prison at Marchington, Staffordshire.
Mr Gandy added: "Ongoing product development and the benefits of long-term partnerships up and down the supply chain will continue to show through on these projects in terms of quality and performance, both on site and in operation."
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