Norway has a much stronger social welfare state than California, and the U.S. more broadly. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, imprisoning every 1 in 100 adults.
Three forthcoming education and vocational training buildings by SHL and DLR Group stand to add new amenities at San Quentin, as part of Newsom’s transformation plan with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
The design for San Quentin “departs from conventional prison architecture through an open, flexible campus layout, emulating a community college environment, and increased connections between the built environment and nature. The design incorporates “trauma-informed and learning environment best practices” to create “physical spaces that promote safety, well-being, and healing for all, including those who work and volunteer at the center.
“This close resemblance to education spaces outside the correctional institution is part of the Nordic model’s normalization principle,” added Jette Birkeskov Mogensen, a senior project manager at SHL. “This will break down the institutional feel, introduce a human scale, and signal a new openness—not only to those who are attending classes inside the buildings, but also to the entire San Quentin community.”
California has 35 state prisons. Of that number, eight will adopt Nordic model philosophies as part of Newsom’s plan. “San Quentin’s construction project will provide vital rehabilitation opportunities and drive a once-in-a-generation transformation of California’s prison system,” Public Information Officer Todd Javernicksaid.
Built in 1852, San Quentin State Prison—or the “Bastille by the Bay” as the compound is called—looks like a power plant, with 20-foot high walls, gun towers, barbed-wire fencing, and decomposing dungenous flesh. Today, there are four barrack-shaped moldy beige residential blocks that can each house up to 800 incarcerated individuals: North, West, East, and South Blocks. Five tiers of cramped double-occupancy cells are no bigger than a parking space for a motorcycle.
The iron bar doors expose inhabitants to the open stale air inside the building. Ventilation is poor. Windows are welded shut. The only fan is broken with generations of pigeons living within its cobwebs and dusty blades. Barbed wire lines the gunrails, along with trash and pigeon excrement.
The roof leaks during the rainy season. Broken water manes, leaky shower heads, and poor plumbing leave tepid pools of water. Many sinks and toilets are in need of constant repair. Sickness permeates the recycled air, giving hundreds of people a relentless seasonal cough.
CDCR wanted to build a “progressive design-build set up” it said by forming an Advisory Council that connected the design-build team and incarcerated population at San Quentin.
The $239 million campus will have 28 classrooms, a media center, tech space, a library, counseling center, and multipurpose rooms. It will have a store, cafe, a central plaza, courtyards, and space for social gatherings. Corrections staff will also have administrative offices and restrooms that service both employees and the incarcerated population.
San Quentin’s South Wall will be removed which could improve circulation. People can choose their own pathway to the cafe, library, and media center, the latter which provides training opportunities relevant to the current job market, including audiovisual production and a coding program. Forty-five trees will be planted, and wild life to provide an air of humanity and “normalcy.”
The design also affords opportunities to informally gather in spaces outside classrooms—in semi-private nooks at the top of the stairs and at the end of a hallway—to give individuals a sense of ownership over their experience and increase a sense of normalcy.
“Normalcy” is a key word here: The word “normal” appears 49 times in the original plan from 2024. To make things “normal,” recommendations include eliminating San Quentin’s “Death Row” and replacing it with housing; they also suggest converting all cells from two-person bunks into single-occupancy units.
Can the culture of prison be changed with new architecture? What difference will a few new Scandinavian buildings make when economic justice still hasn’t been won for those who inhabit them? Perhaps one day, CDCR will realize that going out of business is the only true sign of success.
