This 3 layered idea aims for a review on the concept of prison, with the main focus on the constant element that defines landscape and space: water. The clear division and aggregation of the programs by vertical cores allows the building to be both flexible and defined. The roof slab is emphasized to stress the limit of the building, suggesting a floating element that covers the reflective glass wraping of the box beneath. The facades’ materiality is dissolved because of their reflectiveness and the water level variation establishes different spatial relations with the building.
The oil platform is behind our structural approach, and each of the three cores supports an oil rig truss frame. These vertical elements are counterbalanced by the voids crossing the building and bringing light in from above and allowing the sea water from below. This sustainable feature brings natural ventilation to the building and the possibility for direct interaction with the water, at different levels.
The section defines the project concept and the 3 floors represent the 3 stages of the prisoner’s path back to society: reflection, restoration, revelation. The lower floor, reflection, contains all the different prison cells, creating enclosed spaces many times below water level, and some common spaces. The medium floor, restoration, contains the recreational spaces, representing the next step into the reintegration process, with the community inclusion and motivation to perform different activities. The upper floor, on the roof, an exterior space with open air activities, symbolizes a revelation, where the prisoner achieves a spiritual freedom. The slab withholds this crucial meaning, representing a threshold, from both the programmatic and the conceptual point of view.
