Kier has welcomed the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in Scotland, Neil Gray, to HMP Glasgow, where he visited the site to see progress on the new prison.
The project, which was given the go-ahead last year, will provide safe and secure accommodation for 1,344 people, with high standards of decency and care, and access to services.
It has now reached a key milestone with the first of 165 pre-fabricated risers installed within the five fully electric, X-shaped G60 residential houseblocks. The Cabinet Secretary joined SPS and Kier representatives to see the installation take shape.
The risers, which supply utilities into each room, have been produced in dedicated offsite facilities and installed as ready-to-fit components. The approach delivers value and efficiency benefits including reducing on-site complexity, improving safety and accelerating programme delivery.
The event, coordinated in collaboration with the Group’s prefabrication supply chain partners FES and MMC experts PCE, showcases industrialisation at scale through a highly advanced Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach. This has been made possible through close collaboration across the HMP Glasgow Strategic Alliance.
The project remains on time and on schedule to complete in 2028, and is delivering £450m worth of benefits to the Scottish economy, including jobs and contracts for businesses.
Justice Secretary Neil Gray said: “I am very pleased to help mark a key milestone in the construction of HMP Glasgow and to see first-hand how the new prison, which will add 357 more places to the prison estate, is taking shape. This is an investment in our prison system and a safer Scotland. With increased capacity, HMP Glasgow will focus on how prisoners are rehabilitated so they are less likely to reoffend when they are released back into the community.”
Matt Collins, operations director at Kier Construction, said: “We are enormously proud of the progress being made at HMP Glasgow. Today’s celebration highlights the progress to date and innovative technologies being used to ensure that this complex and critical development is delivered safely on time, to cost and to the highest quality. Alongside that progress, we are focused on creating a positive, lasting legacy - supporting jobs, skills and opportunities for local people, while delivering a modern facility that will play a vital role for communities across Scotland. This is about delivering a modern, rehabilitative facility while ensuring a real, lasting impact.”
Linda Pollock, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, said: “HMP Glasgow is not only essential to long-term sustainability of our prison estate, but will also be transformative for those in our care, our staff, and the communities that depend upon it. I am delighted to see the project reach this important milestone and look forward to the continued progress of the new build.”
To date, £347.6m has been invested with Scottish supply chain businesses. Kier has already surpassed its ambition to create 100 new jobs during construction, with 115 generated to date. Of those, 25 have created opportunities for people with lived experience of the justice system through Kier’s Making Ground programme.
Kier’s team on the ground has engaged with more than 2,700 young people right from nursery to university ages, while it is also set to exceed a target of delivering £200k in community support. To date, it has generated £147.8k through charitable and community donations, donations of materials, as well as initial contributions to the HMP Glasgow Community Fund, launched this month.
HMP Glasgow’s groundbreaking design is based around small communities, making it easier to manage different populations.
It is also trauma-informed and uses space to support good mental health and wellbeing. The use of technology will free up staff time to allow for more positive engagement time with those living in HMP Glasgow.
On a project of this scale, using the latest digital technology is essential to the programme. This is to ensure the accurate and efficient tracking of such a vast number of precast and prefabricated components, from design through to installation.
Kier has extensive experience delivering justice projects, including HMP Millsike in Yorkshire and the multi award-winning HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough, both of which utilised an innovative houseblock design that was manufactured off site.
HMP Glasgow was procured through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework.
