We were engaged to design this 280-bed medium-security detention facility in 1994. The facility will serve the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, the California Department of Correction s, the San Diego Marshal’s Office and the United States Marshal’s Office. The facility features a sallyport, intake areas, counseling rooms, administrative office, commercial food service and dining facilities, a library, visiting rooms and commercial laundry. A rooftop recreation yard with heavy-duty steel enclosure allows inmates to gather in the outdoors without compromising security. Male and female dormitories are located on separate floors with manned security stations restricting access.

This 48-bed minimum – security detention facility was the first of its kind in the United States. Under the Mother-Infant Program, children under five years of age are allowed to live with their incarcerated mothers so their families are preserved. The 10,000 square foot facility features administrative offices, career-counseling areas, work-release programs, commercial food service and dining facility, a library and recreational areas.

This 24,000 square foot facility was designed as a strong example of sustainable architecture. Utilizing strawbale construction, greywater systems, solar heating and natural ventilation. The structure also has very strong cultural significance, as it was designed around our considerable research into the Lakota culture. Project elements include administrative areas, food service, dormitories, counseling rooms and a library all arranged around the circular sacred room. The overall plan represents the extended family, made up of individuals who come together to form a whole, as in the great encampments of early Lakota culture. The separateness of individuals coming to this center for healing are balanced by the sense of unity that comes from the collective residency of this facility.

We completed renovation of this existing building into an 83-bed Adult Local Correctional Center in 2009. EHW Corrections owns and operates the facility under its contract with California State Department of Corrections. National correctional specialist Mental Health Systems provides counseling and health services for the inmates. The 12,500 square foot minimum-security facility features administrative offices, career-counseling areas, work-release programs, a commercial food service and dining facility, classrooms, dormitories, a library and recreational areas.