Escambia County Correctional Facility, Pensacola, FL

GRW led the design for this approximately $130-million, two-phase, design-build project situated on a 19-acre property adjacent to the existing 1980s-era jail near downtown Pensacola, FL.

Escambia County Corrections lost more than 600 beds in 2014 when a basement flood and subsequent explosion resulted in the Central Booking and Detention Center being condemned. As a result, inmates were housed in the existing jail and temporarily at several nearby facilities.

As part of Phase 1, the facility was designed to house 720 inmates, as well as the central core of administration, program, and support spaces for the anticipated full build out of approximately 1,500 beds. Phase 2 will be the addition of the remaining beds to replace the lost total capacity of 1,476 beds.

In addition to new housing units for both adult and juvenile inmates, key components of the correctional facility include a secure sallyport; an inmate intake and receiving area; and commissary, laundry, and food service areas that will serve both the old and new facilities.

The building is situated in an economically depressed area of Pensacola, where a future redevelopment initiative is planned. The design is intended to fit in with nearby commercial office and retail businesses. Several renderings depicting the outside of the new facility are shown here.

Another focus of the project is energy efficiency, the use of sustainable design elements, and construction practices that minimize life-cycle costs. The facility was designed to comply with LEED or Green Globes, achieving a rating of LEED Silver or Two Green Globes.

The design-build team included GRW, and the joint venture construction team of Pensacola-based Whitesell-Green, and Montgomery, Ala.-based Caddell Construction. GRW has designed a number of county, state, and federal prisons across the country, including several with Caddell.