The Philippine Corrections System is composed of the institutions in the

government, civil society and business sector involved in the confinement,

correction and restoration of persons charged for and/or convicted of
delinquents acts or crimes. Thus, government plays a dominant role to facilitate
the correction and rehabilitation of the offenders. In the Philippines, the
difference between a “jail” and “prison” is that “jail” is a place of confinement
for inmates under investigation or undergoing trial, or serving short-term
sentences while the “prison” is a place for national prisons or penitentiaries
managed and supervised by the Bureau of Corrections. We define the classes
of prisons as:

1. Insular or national prisoner – one who is sentenced to a prison term of

three years and one day to death
2. Provincial prisoner – one who is sentenced to a prison term of six months
and one day to three years.
3. City prisoner – one who is sentenced to a prison term of one day to three
years
4. Municipal prisoner – one who is sentenced to a prison term of one day to
six months
And classification of detainees found are the following:

1. Those undergoing investigation

2. Those awaiting of undergoing trial
3. Those awaiting final judgement

For a better jail, necessities must be fully satisfying the occupants, users, and
owners for safety, security, and efficiency whereas here in the Philippines, the
confinement doesn’t meet the criteria due to overcrowding of the cells.
Following the minimum characteristics are essential to attaining a better and
more effective jail.

Characteristics:
Operational
 Adequate and efficient staffing
 Staff well-trained in jail operation
 Existence of written policies and procedures of operations
 Constant surveillance
 Rules and disciplinary procedures
 Sufficient staffing and operational funding available
 Architectural
 Adequate capacity
 Visibility of housing areas from fixed posts
 Cell and dorm occupancies
 Control of sound levels and elimination of visual conflicts
 Properly detailed and designed exterior cell window
 Spatial organization that accommodates the flow of activities rather than
inhibits it

Pre-design work is necessary to apply these characteristics mentioned above

and for further polishing the design by improving architectural designs in the
following areas:
 Circulation patterns in the jail
 Placement of rooms within the facility
 The right types and number of rooms
 Adequacy of space provided
 Environmental quality
 Durability of material and hardware
 Proper views into cellblock areas.

Major Design Considerations

 Site selection and design

 Jail image and appearance
 Classification and separation
 Surveillance and supervision
 Staffing impact
 Security perimeter
 Criminal justice interface
 Functional components and relationships
 Planning and designing to standards
 Expansion
Detailed Functional Components
 Master control – monitors and controls all building communications, safety
and security systems, movement and often coordinates management of
emergencies in the initial stages.

Relationship Component Diagram

 Intake-release – receives and processes incoming arrestees or inmates and
releases outgoing inmates. It performs three key roles:

Conducting all intake activities involves in initially receiving

arrestees or inmates from court or other facilities:
- secure entry /verify arresting authority
- frisk, receive, and temporarily store selected property
- book, fingerprint, and photographed
- temporary hold
- visit
- screen/interview
- provide minor first aid

Conducting all intake activities involves in initially admitting

arrestees or inmates into residency in a house unit:
- exchange clothing, dress
- shower/decontamination
- search
- store clothes/property
- orient to facility rules
- return property
- provide secure exit
Space needs

Intake-release space in this functional-characteristics includes:

- Vehicle sally port

a. Secure the surrounding to

prevent inmates/arrestee
from escaping

b. privacy separation from

adjacent facilities or land
uses
c. Protection from the weather
- secure entry vestibule
- arresting officer report writing area
- sobriety testing area
- holding cells
- waiting areas
- staff position
- fingerprint/photograph area
- temporary property storage area
- staff toilet
- arrestee toilet
- telephone alcove
- strip search area

Admitting
- shower/clothing change
- clothing issue/storage
- clean linens/toiletries issue/storage
- property
- street clothes storage

Release (can also use receiving and admitting spaces)

- clothing issue/change and property issue area
- temporary holding
 Relationship

Component Diagram

 General housing – accommodates the individual security, sleeping,

hygiene, privacy, and routine personal needs of the main, or general,
inmate population of adult males and females

Areas that normally consist of the following types of spaces are:

- inmate cells
- dayrooms (central activity area serving group of cells)
- staff control posts
- security vestibules
- showed toilet areas
- miscellaneous support spaces;
a. security vestibule
b. showers
c. storage
d. janitor closet

The design must acknowledge the potential for less common events, such
as:
a. emergency communications between inmates and staff
b. vandalous acts
c. escape attempts
 d. contraband passage
e. assaults on inmates or staff
f. emergency evacuation.

Component Diagram of
Relationship a Typical Cell

 Special housing – for individual with disciplinary detention or protective

custody, mentally ill, suicidal, intoxicated, medically infirm, juveniles
remanded as adults, or handicapped. In this functional-architectural
component include the following:
- Work release/periodic inmate
- inmate workers are given work assignments within the facility, and
outside of their housing unit.
- protective custody inmates
- juveniles detained as adults
- medically isolated inmates
- suicidal inmates
- mentally disturbed inmates
- intoxicated inmates
Typical spaces that provide to meet housing needs follow:
Work Release/periodic
- vestibule from jail security envelope
- sleeping rooms
- dayroom
- shower toilet
- street clothes storage
- clean clothes storage
- secure entry
Inmate Worker
- sleeping rooms
- dayroom
- shower toilet
Protective custody
- cells
- dayroom shower/toilet

Relationship Component
Diagram
 Health Care – accommodates health care of inmates. The activities in
health care program includes:

- medical screening at intake to identify illnesses or injuries prior to

admission
- suicide screening at intake to identify suicide risk
- solicitation of inmate health complaints
- alcohol or drug detoxification
- temporary care of individuals with mental illness
- testing for infectious diseases, isolation of those with infectious
diseases
- routine health appraisal
- emergency and first aid treatment
- administration of medicines
-infirmary care
- emergency dental care
-special medical diets
- health education
- mental health counseling
- cleaning and disinfecting of medical space.

Relationship
 Component diagram

 Visiting Areas – accommodate individual and group contact between

inmates and family or official visitor. Typical spaces that might be found
within the visiting component include:
- reception desk
- Public waiting
- Locker storage
- Secure entry vestibule
- Public search
- Inmate search
- Non-contact visiting
One-visitor station
Two-visitor station
- Contact visiting
- Other closely affiliated or space-sharing areas:
Public lobby/night lobby
Public toilet areas
Intake-release area

Relationship
Component Diagram
 Exercise Areas – accommodates physical exercise and it provides positive
outlet for inmate’s energy and beneficial to both emotional and physical
wellbeing. The most beneficial active exercises found in jails are:
- basketball
- volleyball
- weightlifting
- calisthenics
The spaces need for mentioned above are presented.

Activity min. dimension max no. of users

basketball
(half-court 48x56x15h 10
high school)
volleyball 72x42x20h 12
weightlifting
(weight machine) 12x16x8h 4-6
Sitting 15 s.f/person

Relationship

Component Diagram
  Program Services – accommodates inmate needs that implemented such
a program that involves:
- Counseling
- Religious services
- legal and recreational library
- education
- recreation

Within the program/services component as individual spaces are typically found

spaces such as:

- counseling
individual
group
- religious
personal counseling
- library
recreational/legal
a. stack area
b. reader area
c. work area
d. computer work station area
Relationship
e. study carrel area
storage
- education
classroom
storage
- recreation
recreation room
storage
- staff facilities
offices
toilets
storage
closet
reception/secretary
Component Diagram
 Inmate Commissary – accommodates basic inmate needs for such
miscellaneous items. Generally, this was viewed as a privilege, not
necessarily a right, if basic sanitation and food service are adequate and
not supplemented from a commissary.

Areas found in the commissary component are:

- storage area
- work area
- waiting area

Relationship
Component Diagram

 Food Service – Accommodates receiving and storage of food.

inadequate documentation of meal planning or difficulties maintaining
equipment to current standards for institutional food service can become
very troublesome for jail administrators. The food service component
encompasses a variety of basic activities:

Relationship
 Component Diagram

 Laundry Area – distributes all reusable personal items. Typical spaces found
with the laundry component include:
- Main laundry room
cart staging area
sorting area
washing machines
dryers
folding tables
- supply storage closet

Relationship
 - inmate worker toilet room
- laundry at work release
- laundry at female housing

Component Diagram

 Administration/Public - organizes and manages the daily business of the

facility, accommodates public access to the facility, and responds to the
public’s need for information and services. Many diverse spaces are
associated with the administration/public component and typically
include:
-public lobby and related spaces (public toilets
- public reception are
administrative staff offices
- conference and meeting area
- clerical areas, including records and work areas
- security equipment storage space
- general supply storage space
- staff toilets
- janitor's closet

Some of the typical spaces that might be found in the

administration/public component follow:
Administration Number

Clerical 1
Supply storage as needed
Copy room as needed
Administrator office 1
Shift commander as needed
Conference 1
Other Staff 1+
Staff toilet 1-2
Coat Closet 1
Inactive Records 1
Jail Security Equipment 1

Public
Public Lobby 1
Public Toilet 2
Public Storage 1
night Lobby 1
Public reception desk 1
Security Vestibule 1
Parking as needed

Relationship
 Component diagram

 Staff Areas – accommodates the training, hygiene, fitness, personal needs

of facility staff. Some typical spaces that might be within the staff
component include:
- Locker / shower room
male
female
- Physical conditioning
storage
- Breakroom
outdoor courtyard
- Training/ multipurpose
storage
- staff toilet within secure perimeter
- parking
 Relationship

 Storage Area – accommodates the need to maintain several types of

equipment, square parts, and supplies safely and securely. Some of the
miscellaneous storage spaces that have not been identified as part of the
storage requirements for the other functional-architectural components
include:

Relationship
 - central storage
- mattress storage/cleaning
- replacement parts
- maintenance equipment / supplies
- janitor closet
- outdoor equipment

Component Diagram

 Maintenance – Initiates preventive maintenance, fixes and replaces worn

or damaged equipment and cleans, and maintains existing facilities.
 Mechanical – Provides heat, ventilation, and air conditioning; water and
waste lines; and main and emergency power supplies,
Relationship of Areas
Examples of Jail
A Skyscraper Jail
Plan for Metropolitan Jail Conceived by Hasting Hart
Designed by Francis Joannes and Maxwell Hyde
Administrator Floor Plan
Typical Cell Floor Plan
Hospital and clinics Floor Plan