Penal progress: the UK's large prison population is fuelled by a high level of recidivism. This project for a model prison tackles issues of architecture, management and funding in an enlightened attempt to achieve lasting rehabilitation - Project

Architectural Review, The, Oct, 2003 by Catherine Slessor

Change, however, invariably takes time, especially across such a huge and complex organization, burdened by a historic lack of investment. Buschow Henley's proposals (and the broader report of which they are part)* are currently doing the political rounds and further developments are awaited with interest. In the late eighteenth century, John Howard's pioneering reforms first postulated the link between physical environment and a moral programme of rehabilitation, paving the way for the Victorian prisons (that were progressive in their day) and a general modernization of the penal system. It would be heartening if a similar leap of imagination could be made again over two centuries later.

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* Learning Works: The 21st Century Prison by Hilary Cottam, Buschow Henley, Matthew Home, Grace Comely, published by The Do Tank, 2002.