The Ministry of Justice project once again sees PCE’s award-winning HybriDfMA Secure Prison System being used, following the successful completion of HMP Five Wells, at Wellingborough, and HMP Fosse Way, in Leicestershire.
The installation phase, predicted to take 60 weeks, is progressing well. Following the offsite manufacture of nearly 13,000 PCE products, PCE’s highly skilled, multidisciplined on-site team will erect 6 houseblocks, along with 1 CaSU (Care and Separation Unit), 1 entrance building, and additional ancillary building works.
Platform Prisons
Secure Prison is a platform-DfMA build system that uses a systemised ‘kit of parts’, manufactured offsite by specialists across the UK and Europe. Using repeatable design philosophies and common connection principles, PCE’s kit of parts comprises standardised components configured to each project. With hybrid structural flexibility and a diverse supply chain, PCE are able to integrate different structural materials within its kit of parts solution.
For HMP Millsike, the ‘kit of parts’ are comprised of a hybrid of reinforced concrete and steel components. This includes sandwich panels, internal wall units, circular and square columns, floor/ceiling units, parapet walls, ground beams, stair units, landing units, structural steelwork, and prefabricated structural steel beams encased with reinforced concrete.
These components then come together for quick and safe assembly, installed using standardised PCE construction procedures.
Reduced Risk and Required Resource
PCE’s core focus is on achieving the highest standards in design, manufacture, and construction, designing out risk from the very beginning of its DfMA solutions. By ensuring the vast majority of operations are conducted offsite, not only is quality significantly heightened, but safety is too. The DfMA model employed vastly reduces the number of operatives on site, along with site deliveries, waste, and required resource. It also ensures PCE’s working environment is extremely organised, safe, and tidy.
This streamlined approach means a crew of just 4 erectors, 6 grouters, 1 building manager, and 1 building supervisor can build each 4-storey houseblock. All this is achieved within just a 12-week window. It demonstrates what can be achieved through modular, systemised, and repeatable design and build solutions. In support of rehabilitation initiatives, PCE is engaging with ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence) prisoners, embedding them into the onsite teams to support them with upskilling and educational opportunities. Working with the Ministry of Justice, this initiative helps prepare those soon to be released, with vital skills, experience, and a career pathway to pursue upon completion of their sentence.
Erecting with Efficiency
Through design coordination and bespoke moulds, PCE accommodate offsite integrations that ensures components are primed and ready for immediate installation when they arrive to site. This includes the integration of M&E, security, and utility features, from ventilation and shower controls, through to secure windows and façades.
By casting in M&E, security, and utility integrations during factory production, components are pre-assembled and coordinated to align with the riser modules for wider service distribution. M&E riser modules are fitted through a rooftop opening, extending vertically through all four floors of the house block buildings. These pre-fabricated riser modules seamlessly incorporate essential services on each floor in a space-efficient modular design.
To enhance safety and efficiency further, PCE’s innovative silo system with an electric-powered grout pump is utilised throughout the installation. The system reduces wasted material by over 50%, whilst reducing noise disruption by nearly a third. Furthermore, its use removes manual handling of bagged materials, as well as the need to regularly lift pallets of grout with the crane.
The silo system will significantly improve an already efficient system, whilst reducing waste and improving sustainable operations throughout construction.
Transit and Tracking
PCE utilise cutting-edge digital systems that enable seamless coordination and control over its operations. One such benefit is the efficiencies gained through the assembly phase.
As projects progress, the team receive real-time feedback through Ynomia’s 3D digital twin track and trace technology. This enables smooth and efficient execution of logistical operations, such as just-in-time deliveries. The insights gained from Ynomia means project teams can remain agile, adaptive, and in control of site operations, whilst QA data and component traceability supports compliance with The Golden Thread.
By adopting PCE’s HybriDfMA solution, the installation of HMP Millsike will be repeatable, predictable, and reliable. It will ensure that the final stage of the structural solution is completed with efficiency, elevating safety, quality, speed, and value.