Big Sandy Federal Penitentiary

A design aesthetic for a highly-functional complex that would be neither opulent nor barbaric, with a overall visual effect of security, clarity and order.

Project Type
Penitentiary and Federal Prison Camp

Client
Federal Bureau of Prisons

Construction Cost
$146,000,000

Square Feet
677,000 SF

KZF provided full-design architecture and engineering services for this maximum-security institution with 768 cells, 96 special housing cells, and support facilities. This facility is a compound plan consisting of one- and two-story program buildings, a Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR) factory, and three four-story general housing buildings enclosed in a continuous secure corridor surrounding an interior compound.

The prison’s medical clinic includes treatment rooms, triage rooms, exam rooms, x-ray room, clinical lab, audiology/optometry and dental treatment rooms, psychiatric observation areas, sterilization, physician’s and nurses’ offices, waiting rooms, medical record storage area with high-density storage, and a pharmacy.