Education and vocation are crucial ingredients in rehabilitation, so care should be given to those spaces. Adopting best practices for instructional design, as used in high schools and colleges, ensures not only a secure environment but one conducive to learning. A combination of group learning spaces and areas for quiet study and reflection is needed.
These flexible spaces can be multipurpose areas used not only for classes, but also programs, counseling, group therapy, meditation, yoga, or worship. However, care should be taken to ensure an adequate number of rooms are planned to reduce competition for these spaces between programs.
Storstrøm Prison, a maximum-security prison on the Danish island of Falster, provides an excellent example of the importance of shared spaces. Designed by Danish architects C.F. Møller, the prison’s layout is centered around social activities where inmates spend their time exercising, studying, creating art, meditating, or praying.
We have concentrated all buildings around a center for joint activities. Here we have a square with, for example, an activity house, a grocery store, a school, a church, and a devotional room. We have also made an effort to promote communication between inmates and staff.”
— Architect Mads Mandrup of C.F. Møller to Danish newspaper Berlingske.