Students awarded for prison project

The University’s School of Technology partnered with Kier Build for the assignment, which tasked students to design a fictitious Featherstone 3 prison for Manchester.

Kier Build is the Principal Contractor on the new category B HMP Featherstone 2 prison, north of Wolverhampton.

The winning design was by John McKay, 31, and he was presented with a commemorative certificate, with a plaque and book vouchers to be awarded at the end of year presentations. The other three finalists were Mathew Norton, Nicholas Green and Neil Jemmet.

The project was part of a Facilities Management module of the BSc (Hons) Building Surveying degree.

Prize winner John McKay said: “I am delighted to have won this award and I am now looking to build upon this as I am currently actively looking a job role in the Building Surveying or Facilities Management sector. “

Mike Webb, Health and Safety Manager from Kier Build, said: “The four shortlisted were of a very high quality and selecting one that stood out from the remainder was very difficult. However, clear references to designing out Health and Safety hazards, cost benefits and the highlighting of environmental issues resulted in John’s submission being selected.”

Paul Hampton, Senior Lecturer for the Facilities Management module, said: "All submission were of a very high standard, and I was delighted to nominate four candidates for the Kier Build prize award. We are delighted that Kier will be sponsoring a trophy at the annual graduation awards in September, and the University looks forward to extending its relationship with Kier towards a more formal partnership later this year.”

The assignment required a professional in-depth review of the strategic facilities management of a fictitious prison based on the model of Featherstone 2.

ENDS