Willmott Dixon rolls out off-the-shelf police cells

Willmott Dixon is hoping to repeat the success of its Sunesis standardised school design with a range of off-the-shelf police custody cells.

It has developed the concept, known as the CODE, with the Home office, Canadian designer Norr Architects and 20 police forces.

CODE has three models: Alpha (pictured above) providing up to 28 cells, Bravo up to 36 cells, and Charlie for forces that require more than 36 cells. Police forces can also completely customise their suite to ensure it meets their individual needs.

All CODE projects are delivered with a fixed cost, timescale, quality and minimum risk and they also provide significant social value and community engagement commitments, a defining factor of Willmott Dixon projects.

It follows the success of the Sunesis standardised school concept developed with Scape Group under which 25 primary schools have been built in three years across the country, providing more than 9,000 new places for a fixed cost and time scale.

CODE custody suites can also be procured through the Scape National Major Works framework, an OJEU-compliant procurement route that allows customers to engage directly with Willmott Dixon and reduce the time and resources spent on a lengthy tender process.

Anthony Dillon, managing director at Willmott Dixon Construction, said: “CODE has been developed with Norr Architects, the UK’s most experienced custody design practice and also in conjunction with the Home Office to produce standardised designs we are truly proud of.

The Charlie model is for forces that require more than 36 cells

“There are many pressures facing our police forces today and we are delighted to be able to play our part in supporting them by providing the most advanced modern facilities that are also economically efficient.”

Willmott Dixon says police forces are investing millions in moving to larger custody suites to create better working environments for staff and detainees and provide more efficient use of property that will save millions in running costs each year. This includes the company recently delivering 50+ cell custody suites for police forces in South Yorkshire, south Wales, Newcastle and West Midlands. 

In the case of South Yorkshire, the police force expects its new purpose-built 50-cell centre in Sheffield to replace inefficient custody suites in Rotherham and Sheffield and save £1.2m a year in running costs, claims the contractor. Likewise, West Midlands Police expects its new 60-cell Central Custody Suite in Perry Bar to save the force £1.3m a year.