The Mount Gambier Prison is the first South Australian prison to employ the ‘modular construction’ method. This means that the expansion for 110 additional prisoners has been constructed using shipping containers, which are fully self-contained units.

  • Sector Justice
  • Client Department of Corrective Services, Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure
  • Location Mount Gambier SA
  • Value $19M
  • Contract Managing Contractor

Because of Managing Contractor delivery process, our team was involved early in the design phase and able to contribute towards the constructability, resources and procurement options for the client to choose from.

One such suggestion accepted by the client was the configuration and procurement of the containers and the set-out within them. Our proposal changed the scope so that the provider of the containers would already provide them with the appropriate amendments to suit the accommodation requirement – thus they were ready once delivered to site, saving a lot of time and money.

Being a prison, there were very high security requirements including the installation of microwave fences. Complex services included a Building Management System that even controls the water permitted to the prisoners.

Typical challenges for a project in a regional area included material delivery delays and reduced availability of local experienced subcontractors. Our construction team is now well versed in regional construction and were able to manage these challenges proactively so as not to jeopardise quality or programme.

A new 400m² kitchen and extension to the prison perimeter fence completed the works which were delivered defect-free and under budget