Algeco secures order for MOJ Rapid Deployment Cells
Brief
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is in the process of rolling out 1000 Rapid Deployment Cells to create extra spaces.
The first of these Rapid Deployment Cells have already been installed by the Algeco offsite team at HMP Norwich to meet the rising demand for prison places. The are required to have a minimum lifespan of 15 years and be constructed using modular construction systems to ensure rapid deployed.
HMP Norwich has 48 of the new Algeco rapid deployment cells and is the first prison in the country to begin using them.
Expansion of this programme required additional RDC’s at multiple locations across the country:
Wave 1 of the CCS framework (current framework RM6014) involves the supply of 396 units across several locations including at HMP Norwich in Norfolk.
Wave 2a requires the supply of 215 units across further locations.
The Rapid Deployment Cells Project was initiated to create a new design that can be quickly deployed to a variety of sites to help meet the short term demands of the prison estate.
The Rapid Deployment Cells Project requires the supply of ‘safe and decent accommodation’.
Solution
The Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) £10bn Offsite Construction Solutions Framework aims to promote modular design in a drive to cut costs and help providers meet carbon net zero targets.
Algeco modular, temporary accommodation already supplied to the Ministry of Justice was to a very high standard. We are now continuing this approach with these longer-term structures.
Algeco was initially awarded a Framework contract to supply Wave 1 (396 units) and Wave 2 (215 units) across multiple locations.
Our Cannock facility manufactured the RDCs utilising DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) and Lean Manufacturing techniques. We supplied, installed and commission a variety of units including sleeper accommodation, accessible accommodation and ancillary units at multiple MOJ locations around the country.
Utilising DFMA and Lean Manufacturing, along with our platform design approach, helped deliver high quality units across multiple MOJ locations.
Results
As part of meeting the requirement for ‘safe and decent accommodation’, our Rapid Deployment Cells are modern and look more like a room as opposed to a cell. According to one of the Governors, this ‘encourages inmates to be more respectful’. It helps to prepare them to reintegrate into the community and feel a little bit more at home whilst serving their sentence.
Our turnkey Rapid Deployment Cells are ready for hand over in around half the time of a conventional on-site build. The secure living accommodation and welfare facilities are available in a range of standard designs and include laundry, catering and self-catering blocks, communal areas, and many more options.
With a simple site install process, the accommodation areas can be built in a single or 2-storey formats. The modules are fully relocatable and require minimal foundations.
Utilising DFMA and Lean Manufacturing, along with our platform design approach, has delivered high quality units across multiple locations. The temporary accommodation we have already supplied to the Ministry of Justice was to a very high standard.
The RM6014 Modular Building Solutions framework provides public sector organisations (NHS, emergency services, central government departments, charities and wider public sector) with a range of modular building solutions.
Outcome
Based on the excellent performance of our offsite team on Wave 1 (396 units across several locations) and Wave 2a (215 units across further locations), Algeco secured a further 175 Rapid Deployment Cells (RDC), deemed as Wave 3.