HM Prison Service
New Prison self-cleaning Bathroom Pod
The Result
By careful engineering Walker Modular was able to design and deliver a very unique bathroom pod for the Prison Service. All the bathroom pods are in use and are proving very robust in use. The added benefit of the bathroom pod is that all the bathrooms are self-cleaning and infection control has been all but eliminated by the anti fungal properties of the surface finish.
The Business Problem
HMP were using a traditional bathroom pod system as part of their construction process. This design relied heavily on a plasterboard and traditionally tiled bathroom solution. However over time the bathroom tiles had become discoloured suffered with age related issues and were being prised off the walls by inmates. A major driver was to develop a bathroom pod that could self clean and help with the infection control of the prison.
Her Majesty’s Prison service first approached Walker modular in 2009 to investigate Walker Modular’s new bathroom pod innovations and the potential use of them with their new Prison developments.
Central to the contract was that Walker Modular would produce a bespoke Marine Grade Composite bathroom pod from a one piece moulded design. The bathroom pod had to be self cleaning with an element of infection control and require little or no maintenance.
Also imperative to the design process was the ability of the bathroom to have a 12-hour breakout protection system. This meant that an inmate could not break out of the walls of the bathroom pod using his allowed possessions in a 12-hour period. The bathroom pod has to also conform to all the UK anti ligature regulations.
How We Helped
A team of 4 specialists was assigned to the project, with skills in different areas including product design, technical development, project and service management. Our first task was to create a bathroom pod that could be manufactured in a true one piece design that did not rely on a silicone jointing system. The bathroom surface had to be self-cleaning in order to reduce the amount of cleaning require on a morning turnaround.
Once the mould was agreed and the design had been selected Walker Modular had to design the structure in such a way that the prisoner could not escape through the walls of the bathroom pod in a 12 hour period. The design called for the use of structural steel panels to be embedded within the composite structure. At fist glance this seemed straight forward however a new resin system had to be developed in a very short period of time to meet demand. The resin system had to be able to bond to the steel structure whilst at the same time maintain all the necessary structural feature required of the build. Using in house engineers a solution was found and the Prison Bathroom Pod was produced.
A new resin system was developed that gave the surface of the bathroom pod self cleaning capabilities and an anti fungal finish.
The moulds were manufactured and Walker Modular began supplying HMP bathroom pods in 2009. The whereabouts of the prison cells cannot be revealed.
