Haren Prison
Coordinates50°53′53″N 4°25′31″E / 50.89796°N 4.42541°E / 50.89796; 4.42541
StatusOperational
Capacity1,190[1]
Population264 (as of 30 December 2022[2])
Opened30 September 2022[3]
Managed byCafasso N.V.
DirectorJurgen Van Poecke[4]
Street addressRue du Witloof / Witloofstraat
(R22 Avenue de la Woluwe / Woluwelaan)
CityHaren, City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region
Postal code1130
CountryBelgium
WebsiteOfficial website
Haren Prison
General information
Cost€382 million (inc VAT)[5][1]
Grounds0.15 km2 (37 acres)[1]
Design and construction
Architect(s)EGM architects [buildings][6]
EGM architects and B2Ai [layout][6]
Baljon Landscape Architects [landscape][6]

Haren Prison (French: Prison de Haren, Dutch: Gevangenis van Haren) is a new prison in Haren in the north-eastern part of Brussels, Belgium. It is 9.8 kilometres (6.1 mi) from Brussels-South railway station, and is near Brussels Airport, Vilvoorde Viaduct and the planned Uplace shopping centre in Machelen in Flemish Brabant, just outside Brussels.[7] It is said to be the largest prison complex ever built in Belgium,[8] and is intended to replace the old Saint-Gilles Prison, Forest Prison and Berkendael Prison.[1] Three cell wings in Saint-Gilles will remain in use until the end of 2024.[5] The women's prison in Berkendael is being converted into a detention centre for about 60 short-term prisoners (imprisonment less than three years).[5]

Facilities

The Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, described Haren Prison as "a prison village, which will not only promote a new perspective on detention, with new functions such as that of security assistant and detention supervisor, but which is also more humane and fully focused on the empowerment and reintegration of detainees".[lower-alpha 1][1]

The prison site occupies 0.15 square kilometres (37 acres),[1] has 105,000 m2 (126,000 sq yd) net floor space,[9] and has a 1,200-metre-long (1,300 yd) perimeter wall.[7][1] The prison's designed capacity is 1,190 inmates,[1] and 1,000 prison staff.[7] The cell blocks are designed for 30 inmates each;[1] and consist of a communal living space next to three galleries (one per floor), each of ten cells.[10][11] A central monitoring post connects groups of three cell blocks.[10]

Each cell has its own toilet,[9] a shower area where hot water is available twice for 5 minutes a day,[12] a television that can receive four channels (RTBF, VRT, Euronews and Eurosport), a radio-alarm clock, a microwave oven, a small refrigerator,[12][13] and a telephone.[4] The distance from the cell door to the window is six steps.[4][12] Some of the facilities in the cell are computer-controlled; each inmate has a badge that empowers them to choose whether the light in their cell is on or off, and to open the cell door at authorised times.[4]

The prison is designed as a village, and has:

  • A centrally-located "town hall" that includes the reception and visitors' area, a sports hall, the front office, and the sentence enforcement court,[1]
  • A pre-trial detention centre for men,[1][10]
  • A men's prison,[1][10]
  • A women's closed prison[1][10] for 100 prisoners spread over three cell blocks (one of which includes five mother-child cells and has both an indoor and an outdoor playground),[5]
  • A women's open prison[1][10] for 60 prisoners spread over six cell blocks (prisoners cook meals for themselves and live more independently than in the closed prison; there is a mother and child cell block),[5]
  • An observation institution,[1]
  • A psychiatric ward and medical centre,[1]
  • Workshops.[1]

Except where prisoners cook for themselves,[5] meals are provided by the prison kitchen. Inmates can buy snacks and drinks from the canteen.[14]

Though the prison design is intended as an alternative to the "Ducpétiaux"-type design, within the Federal Public Service Justice it is described as a "Ducpétiaux" prison, because it will function like a "Ducpétiaux"-type design even though it does not look like one.[10] (Édouard Ducpétiaux was Inspector General of Prisons in Belgium in the 19th century. A "Ducpétiaux" prison had wing-shaped cell complexes controlled by a central supervisory core. "Ducpétiaux" cell complexes generally consisted of an open gallery with a maximum of three floors.)[10]

The prison is designed to be environmentally friendly, and has received the BREEAM "very good" certificate.[6] The prison uses underground heat pumps to cool the prison in summer and heat it in winter.[1] The heat pumps work with a borehole energy storage field of 250 90-metre-deep (300 ft) boreholes.[5] There are 140 solar panels on the roof of the "town hall".[1][5] Some of the buildings have green rooves [gross area 22,500 m2 (5.6 acres) including pathways].[5] The prison is designed to use 77% less tap water than average;[6] this is because 59% of non-potable water (for flushing toilets and irrigation) comes from collecting rainwater, and 41% from recovery and purification of grey water.[5] The buildings are better insulated than required by current regulations (and twice as much better than the building regulations in force at the time the initial planning application was done).[5] The buildings also have acoustic insulation, partly to reduce the propagation of knocking and impact noises, and partly to reduce the noise from Brussels Airport.[5] Nevertheless, a journalist (Arnaud Gabriel) who was locked up in the prison for 36 hours complained about the noises that he could hear when he was locked in his cell: "the constant blower that stays in the head; the fridge that gets started; doors opening; prison officers' shoes on the stairs."[15]

History

Haren Prison was built as part of the implementation of a masterplan to combat overcrowding in Belgian prisons and to improve living conditions, which was approved by the Federal Council of Ministers in 2008 and has been updated several times since then.[lower-alpha 2][5] Five new prisons have been built:

The prison was built as a public–private partnership between the Belgian Federal Public Service Justice (FPS Justice) and Calfasso N.V. (a Belgian-Spanish-Australian consortium).[1][6] The Belgian Directorate of Buildings acted as client for the design and construction phase of the project.[5] "Cafasso NV is composed of three shareholders: Macquarie Corporate Holdings PTY Limited, FCC Construcción S.A. and DENYS N.V."[18] Denys NV is the main partner in the consortium, and is responsible for the 382 million euro construction cost,[lower-alpha 3] the construction risk, and financing of the project.[1] The buildings were designed by EGM architects, who collaborated with B2Ai on the prison village layout.[6] Baljon Landscape Architects designed the outdoor space.[6] "Macquarie Capital acted as sole financial adviser and majority sponsor on this project leading two debt financing competitions over a five-year period. The final structure involved eight lenders who provided a combination of construction equity bridge loans and long-term loan facilities."[19] The state will pay an annual fee of 40.2 million euros for 25 years from the opening of the prison until 2047.[3][1] The consortium will be responsible for the maintenance of the prison during the 25-year period. At the end of the 25-year period, the state will take over the prison.[1]

Preparation for the project began in 2012.[20] The initial planning application was submitted in 2013.[5] Local residents and activists opposed the construction of the prison, and said that they wanted a park on the site instead of a large prison.[1] Appeals were lodged against both the planning permission and the environmental permit issued by the Brussels Region.[21] Objectors said that the project would generate an ecological problem; they objected to its large size; they said that its distance from the centre of the Brussels would increase in the isolation of prisoners from their families and loved ones; they said that it would cause very many journeys by inmates, relatives and justice professionals; they said that it was extremely expensive and therefore risked putting a greater strain on the justice budget.[21] The Council of State rejected both appeals in June 2019.[21]

Haren Prison was partly built on the old Wanson factory site,[22] and partly on a nature reserve.[23] The Wanson factory site was purchased for 53 million euros.[3] Demolition and cleanup of this site took from February to September 2015, and cost almost €750,000.[22] The waste from the demolition of the buildings included:

  • 11,082.39 tonnes of masonry rubble (10,252.75 tonnes were retained on site for reuse),
  • 7,286.47 tonnes of concrete rubble (6,206.75 tonnes were retained on site for reuse),
  • 740.64 tonnes of iron,
  • nearly 342 tonnes of bound asbestos,
  • 59.2 tonnes of wood,
  • 2.04 tonnes of aluminium.[22]

Construction work began in Autumn 2018.[1] The construction phase of the project was only 36 months. So several large construction companies worked together, and prefabricated concrete played an important role in the construction. Almost the entire Belgian prefab sector participated.[lower-alpha 4][9] The project used a mixture of cast-in-place concrete (i.e. poured on site), and precast concrete. Gilles Geenen explained: "In addition to the foundations, the cellars and corridors that connect the various buildings underground were poured on site because they must be watertight. In addition, a number of the ground floors were poured on site. That was for logistical reasons." Precast concrete was used for some of the ground storey work, and for upper storeys.[9]

Everything was designed in building information modeling (BIM) software, which produced a 3D model. The suppliers used BIM to draw their parts, which were then checked against the overall design model to prevent unexpected errors when the parts were put together on the site.[9] The 3D model meant that spaces for pipes and electric cables were provided in the prefab moulds; this meant that they did not need to be ground into the concrete, which is what normally happens.[9] Site management used the 3D model to determine the optimum placement order of parts.[9] As of December 2020, there were 500 people and 15 tower cranes working on the site, and on some days 100 loads of construction materials arrived, which made the managing the project a challenge.[9] Building work was completed in September 2022,[5] and the Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, opened the prison on 30 September 2022.[13]

Originally, it was planned to start moving inmates into Haren Prison in mid-October 2022, but this had to be postponed.[24] At the time, three quarters of the doors lacked properly-working locks.[24] Lack of staff was also a problem.[24]

The first inmates to be transferred to Haren Prison were female prisoners from Berkendael Prison in the week ending 11 November 2022.[25][5] Forest Prison closed on 18 November 2022; the transfer of the 126 inmates to Haren Prison took several days; most of Forest Prison's staff were also transferred to Haren.[25][5] By 30 December 2022, 188 men and 76 women prisoners had been transferred to Haren Prison.[2] By 6 January 2023, over a hundred prisoners and some staff from Saint-Gilles Prison had been transferred to Haren Prison (though this created staff shortages at Saint-Gilles).[26] A male inmate from Forest was interviewed by the press before his transfer to Haren and said: "In Forest, yes, it is unsanitary, but we have our bearings. We know that the management is behind us. The director is human. The prisoner can express himself and explain himself".[27] "In Haren, we will be in an American-style prison, we will no longer have any contact with the guards".[27] Of Haren, he said that "this prison is very isolated".[27] Marie Berquin, of the Belgian Section of Observatoire international des prisons, agreed with the inmate about Haren Prison's remoteness from the centre of Brussels: "Yes, there is a bus, but it will be less easy than going to the prison of Saint-Gilles or Forest. The prisoners fear that their family will come less often."[27] The view of prison staff is that Haren Prison was opened prematurely; Stijn Van den Abeele (of the VSOA Prisons union) said: "Haren was opened too early, it's no secret. It is suffering from early teething problems [maladies de jeunesse]. Beveren Prison was tested for almost two years without inmates. All movements and activities there had been reviewed. This is not the case in Haren."[28] Haren Prison is not yet fully staffed. In November 2022, FPS Justice started the process of recruiting 121 new prison officers [accompagnateurs de détention] and 52 security guards [assistants de sécurité]; candidates must either have Belgian nationality or that of a country in the Schengen Area, and must speak either perfect French or Dutch.[29]

Though 37,000 square metres (9.1 acres) of greenery and 652 trees have been planted on the site,[6] as of December 2022 the prison is still a construction site.[30]

Works of art will be on display inside and outside the prison. A permanent exhibition will be open to the general public from April 2023.[5] It is intended that the art collection will expand over the next three years.[5]

Even though Haren Prison was intended to replace Berkendael Prison, Berkendael Prison will not be closed; it is being converted into a detention centre for about 60 short-term prisoners (imprisonment less than three years).[5]

Awards

  • In June 2019, the project was voted "Best Social Infrastructure Project" at the 2019 Partnership Awards.[5]
  • In December 2019, the project won a WAFX Award in the "Power and Justice" category at the World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam.[5]

Notable inmates and former inmates

See also

  • Halden Prison a large modern prison in Norway that opened in 2010

Notes

  1. ↑ "Een gevangenisdorp, dat niet alleen een nieuwe kijk op detentie zal promoten, met nieuwe functies zoals die van veiligheidsassistent en dententiebegeleider, maar dat ook menselijker is en volledig gericht is op de responsabilisering en re-integratie van gedetineerden".[1]
  2. ↑ "The Master Plan III, titled 'Humane Detention and Internment', was approved in November 2016 and aims to renovate 'to recover the lost capabilities in the existing institutions' and build additional cells and prisons as part of public-private partnerships."[16]
  3. ↑ "Bouwkost: 382 miljoen euro inclusief btw (inbegrepen in de jaarlijkse vergoedingen vanaf de terbeschikkingstelling)"[5] [Construction cost: 382 million euros including VAT (included in the annual fees from the moment of availability)]
  4. ↑ Een unieke werf waar bijna de hele Belgische prefab sector aan meewerkt.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Sanen, Sielke (20 October 2021). "De nieuwe gevangenis van Haren in cijfers: 15 hectare groot, 1,2 km muur en plaats voor 1.190 gedetineerden" [The new Haren prison in numbers: 15 hectares in area, 1.2 km of walls and space for 1,190 prisoners]. VRT (broadcaster) (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 20 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 Sente, Arthur (30 December 2022). "Prisons: avec l'ouverture d'Haren, la situation à Saint-Gilles s'est dégradée à vue d'oeil" [Prisons: with the opening of Haren, the situation in Saint-Gilles has deteriorated visibly]. Le Soir (in French).
  3. 1 2 3 Wauters, Laurence (13 September 2022). "Dans le rush et sans un cadre complet, la prison de Haren doit ouvrir le 30 septembre" [In a rush and without a full cadre, Haren prison is due to open on September 30]. Le Soir (in French).
  4. 1 2 3 4 Joris, Melanie (20 September 2022). "Immersion à la prison de Haren : 36 heures dans la peau d'un détenu" [Immersion at Haren prison: 36 hours in the shoes of an inmate]. RTBF (in French).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 "Haren (Brussel) Gevangenis(dorp). Federale Overheidsdienst Justitie" [Haren (Brussels) Prison (village). Federal Public Service Justice], De Vastgoedbeheerder Van De Federale Staat [The Property Manager Of The Federal State] (in Dutch), 4 October 2022 Alternative URL
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Muis, Robert (19 December 2022), "Gevangenisdorp Haren betekent vernieuwing in Belgisch gevangeniswezen" [Prison village Haren means innovation in the Belgian prison system], Architectenweb.nl
  7. 1 2 3 "Haren Prison, Belgium", Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas
  8. ↑ Sente, Arthur (4 October 2021). "Prisons: le mégacomplexe de Haren a poussé, entre démesure et promesses de progrès" [Prisons: the Haren megacomplex has grown, between excess and promises of progress]. Le Soir (in French).
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Gevangenis van Haren – "Een unieke werf waar bijna de hele Belgische prefab sector aan meewerkt."" [Haren Prison – A unique site in which almost the entire Belgian prefab sector participates]. Beton Magazine [Concrete Magazine] (in Dutch). 15 December 2020. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Boie, Gideon; Vandamme, Fie (1 February 2015), Kanttekeningen bij een gevangenisdorp in Haren [Comments on a prison village in Haren] (in Dutch)
    Boie, Gideon; Vandamme, Fie (2014), Intra/extra muros. Kanttekeningen bij een gevangenisdorp [Intra/extramural. Notes on a prison village] (PDF) (in Dutch), VRP
  11. ↑ "The Design", Gevangenis Haren Prison, THV Cafasso Construction
  12. 1 2 3 Dejace, Thibault (21 September 2022). "32h en immersion dans la prison du futur de Haren : "J'avais la trouille qu'on m'oublie"" [32 hours of immersion in the prison of the future of Haren: "I was scared of being forgotten"]. Moustique (in French).
  13. 1 2 3 Wauters, Laurence (30 September 2022). "La prison de Haren est prête à accueillir ses premières détenues" [Haren prison is ready to welcome its first inmates]. Le Soir (in French).
  14. ↑ Torfs, Michaël (10 August 2022). "Dozens of magistrates to go to prison (as a test)". VRT (broadcaster).
  15. ↑ "Prison de Haren: Arnaud Gabriel a passé 36 heures en cellule à titre expérimental" [Haren prison: Arnaud Gabriel spent 36 hours in the cell on an experimental basis]. RTL Info (in French). 18 September 2022.
    "A Journalist from RTL Info Spent 36 Hours in a New Prison, with 55 Magistrates: Here Is What He Retains". archyde.com. 19 September 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nederlandt, Olivia (29 March 2021). "Interview: Belgium: what is Haren?". Prison Insider.
  17. ↑ "Inauguration d'une nouvelle prison durable à Termonde" [Inauguration of a new sustainable prison in Termonde]. news.belgium (in French). 2 December 2022.
  18. ↑ "Whos-who", Gevangenis Haren Prison, THV Cafasso Construction
  19. ↑ "Fulfilling the Belgian government's vision of a 'humane prison' focused on rehabilitation", Macquarie Group Limited, retrieved 9 January 2023
  20. ↑ "Planning of the project", Gevangenis Haren Prison, THV Cafasso Construction
  21. 1 2 3 "Méga-prison de Haren: les derniers recours ont été rejetés" [Haren mega-prison: last appeals have been rejected]. RTBF (in French). 26 June 2019.
  22. 1 2 3 Delforge, Guy (8 September 2015). "Voormalige Wansonsite gesaneerd" [Former Wanson site cleaned up]. Made In (in Dutch).
  23. ↑ Bastin, Olivier (18 June 2014), BMa / man of thoughts (PDF), Brussels-capital region, pp. 136–139, However, the people living in Haren are less than elated to see a "super-prison" inserted into their village. The Haren locals have been subjected to all sorts of large-scale projects for years, and the arrival of the prison means the destruction of a nature reserve and walking path to Diegem.
  24. 1 2 3 Lyons, Helen (26 October 2022). "Brussels prison staff strike over assaults and overcrowding". The Bulletin (Belgian magazine).
  25. 1 2 "Fermeture de la prison de Forest: les derniers détenus transférés vers Haren" [Closure of Forest Prison: the last detainees transferred to Haren]. Le Soir (in French). 18 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "'Onlangs waren er zelfs geen matrassen genoeg voor alle gedetineerden'" ['Recently there weren't even enough mattresses for all detainees']. BRUZZ (in Dutch). 6 January 2023.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Joris, Melanie; Lepage, Stéphanie (18 November 2022). "Un détenu de la prison de Forest témoigne juste avant son déménagement vers la prison de Haren : "Ça va être l'usine"" [An inmate from Forest prison testifies just before his move to Haren prison: "It's going to be a factory"]. RTBF (in French).
  28. ↑ Mathot, Marie-Laure, ed. (7 December 2022). "Grève dans les prisons de Haren et Lantin ce mercredi mais elle "n'empêchera pas le transfert des accusés" au procès de Bruxelles" [Strike in Haren and Lantin prisons this Wednesday but it "will not prevent the transfer of the accused" to the Brussels trial]. RTBF (in French).
  29. ↑ "Un job day pour pourvoir 173 emplois à la nouvelle prison de Haren" [A job day to fill 173 jobs at the new Haren prison]. RTBF (in French). 22 November 2022.
  30. ↑ Schillewaert, Nils (7 December 2022). "Maand na opening al staking in nieuwe gevangenis van Haren: "Te weinig personeel en te veel kinderziektes"" [Strike in new Haren prison month after opening: "Too few staff and too many teething problems"]. VRT (broadcaster) (in Dutch).
  31. ↑ Fleitas, Aitor Hernandez (13 December 2022). "From Dickensian Saint-Gilles to Heaven in Haren". Politico Europe. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  32. ↑ "Qatargate:over 1.5 million euro found with Kaili and Panzeri. Former VP held at Haren prison". Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata. 13 December 2022.
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