Halden Prison () is a maximum-security prison in Halden, Norway. It has three main units and has no conventional security devices. The third-largest prison in Norway, it was established in 2010 with a focus on rehabilitation; its design simulates life outside the prison. Among other activities, sports and music are available to the prisoners, who interact with the unarmed staff to create a sense of community. Praised for its humane conditions, Halden Prison has received the Arnstein Arneberg Award for its interior design in 2010 and been the subject of a documentary, but has also received criticism for being too liberal.
Overview
Located in Halden, Østfold, Norway, Halden Prison was built for over 10 years at a cost of 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($252 million/£138 million/€150 million). The prison received its first inmates on March 1, 2010 and was officially opened on April 8 by the Norwegian King Harald V. It is Norway's second-largest prison with a capacity of 248–252 prisoners and a site of .
As a maximum-security prison, it hosts both dangerous and highly dangerous criminals, such as rapists, murderers, and child molesters. They compose half of the population, while a third of the residents are drug offenders. Sex offenders, who may face violence from other inmates, and prisoners who require close psychiatric or medical supervision, are located in Unit A, a restrictive and separated area. There is also a special unit (C8) focused on addiction recovery. Most inmates live in Units B and C, which are freer and have mixed cell blocks. Halden Prison receives both domestic and international criminals; as only around three-fifths of the prisoners are Norwegians (as of 2015), both Norwegian and English are used, and the prison has English teachers. However, fluency in Norwegian is a requirement to live in C8, because group and individual counseling is conducted in Norwegian.
There are no conventional security devices, such as barbed tape, electric fences, towers, or snipers. However, there is safety glass, a concrete and steel wall, and a system of tunnels which guards use to walk through the prison. Although there are surveillance cameras on the prison grounds, they are not present in the cells, the cell hallways, the common rooms, the classrooms, and most of the workshops. While there is little violence reported, almost exclusively in Unit A, officers try to prevent it. If two inmates have a dispute, they engage in a mediation session under staff supervision. If mediation fails, repeated misbehavior or rule violations are punished with cell confinement or prison transference.
Design
The prison was designed by the Danish group Erik Møller Architects and the Norwegian HLM Arkitektur AS, selected in a competition held by the Department of Justice and the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property to determine the designers of the building.
With a focus on rehabilitation, it was designed to simulate a village so that the prisoners can consider themselves part of society. The government believes that "the smaller the difference between life inside and outside the prison, the easier the transition from prison to freedom." Interiors are painted and designed to demarcate the differences between home, school, and the workplace. In designing the prison's interiors, the architects tried to separate the internal buildings to have prisoners walking, to strengthen their bond with the outside world. The hallways are tiled with Moroccan tiles or have large-scale photographs, such as daffodils or Parisian streets.
Exteriors are composed of bricks, galvanized steel, and larch wood, instead of concrete. The black and red kiln-fired bricks were inspired by the trees, mosses, and bedrock of the surroundings. Natural life, including birch, blueberry, and pine trees, also contribute to rehabilitation. The steel, a "hard" material, symbolizes detention, while the larch, a "soft" material, stands for rehabilitation and growth. The yard walls and toilet doors are decorated by a graffiti painting by the Norwegian artist Dolk, which was ordered by the prison from its 6 million kroner ($1 million/£640,000) art budget.
All aspects of the prison's design aim to avoid psychological pressures, conflicts, and interpersonal friction. Despite this, the prison wall was designed for security. As the wall is visible everywhere, it was seen as a "symbol and an instrument" of "[the prisoners'] punishment, taking away their freedom", according to Gudrun Molden, one of its architects.