Doing time differently: A greener way to justice on Hope Street

In England and Wales, prison capacity is at a crisis level. Institutions are under pressure and the government is worried for the future, looking to different ways to mitigate the growing number of prisoners inside. Across the countries, new, alternative facilities are being opened to try and meet this demand.

Nestled in suburban Southampton is a remarkable building that not only pioneers a concept for its inhabitants, but has also been constructed with sustainability at the forefront of design and build. Hope Street, is a pilot project for the charity One Small Thing, which champions the mission of ‘redesigning the justice system for women and their children’.

Hope Street will give a safe space for trauma informed healing and rehabilitation while keeping mothers and children together. The project recognises the importance of social sustainability, where a healthier and safer place for women to serve their sentence, is beneficial to not only the individual but the community.

Summarising the project Adedayo ShittuBalogun, Director of Projects at EURBAN said: “In 2023, working closely with Snug Architects, EURBAN were proud to be the Mass Timber Specialist for Hope Street - a progressive pilot project for One Small Thing (OST) a charity that supports a trauma informed alternative to custodial prison sentences for women.

“The scheme comprises a street facing ‘Hub’ building with a residential building to the rear and a landscaped therapeutic garden between.

“On the ground floor of The Hub is a coffee shop open to the community that provides work opportunities for the women. The upper three volumes are occupied by office spaces and large seminar rooms, and a group counselling space.”

Since opening Hope Street has been awarded the RIBA 2024 MacEwen Award, with one of the judges describing it as ‘architecture that is healing people’. The project also won the 2024 Civic Trust Award. The biophilic design, using mass timber, connects nature and the environment within the building to benefit the occupants. It’s been shown that nature alleviates stress, anxiety and depression, improving quality of life.

Health, wellbeing and healing are at the core of what Hope Street has been built to serve. Before Hope Street, the issue identified was women and children being separated when in the justice system had an understandably difficult effect on families. The project was designed to bring a safe environment of support to their journey.

Thought-out sustainability

Making the space welcoming with the mass timber has been part of the story. The wooden structure allows for versatile design, long stretches of wall and roof, with warmth radiating from the timber.

The building’s timber structure has been designed by EURBAN, partnered with Stora Enso on mass timber supply, to create the space that uses sustainable materials. Sylva™ by Stora Enso CLT (cross-laminated timber) floors, roofs and walls provide a low carbon alternative to normal building materials such as steel or concrete. By using CLT, mass timber significantly reduces CO2 emissions compared to regular materials, benefiting the sustainability of the building. The wooden structure causes lower carbon emissions at the manufacturing stage and  stores carbon during the building's lifespan.

All-round quality of life

However, the beaming story of Hope Street does not begin at the start of construction. Looking back, these sustainable practices begin long before the walls go in. It all starts from the forest, the source of the raw material. Stora Enso makes sure that all the logs supplied to its sawmills – including the ones from the Austrian forest* used for the Hope Street project – are managed through third-party certified chain of custody and Due Diligence systems, such as PEFC, to guarantee that all wood comes from legal and sustainable sources.

This project’s supply chain is currently being mapped by the IMPACTT (Innovative Mapping and Processes to Advance Construction Timber Transparency) project funded by Built by Nature and led by ASBP (Alliance for Sustainable Building Products) with partners PEFC UK (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), DoubleHelix Tracking Technologies, Agrodome in the Netherlands, Woodknowledge Wales, Stora Enso, and EURBAN, with support from CEI-Bois and TDUK. The aim of the project is to investigate how  biodiversity data and forest data might overlay onto the PEFC Certification system. 

As one of the largest private forest owners globally, Stora Enso is deeply committed to sustainable forest management. The company has implemented its own sustainable forest management system, ensuring that forests and forest lands are utilised in a way that preserves their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, and vitality over the long term. The health and vitality of forests are crucial for ensuring their ongoing ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into long-term carbon storage.

At the start of any building project, the foundations need to be strong and well thought out. Hope Street has gone above and beyond in its structure, design, background and purpose to show its dedication to people and the environment. Throughout the building the open space, use of light and texture, clean and natural feel, all embody its promise to do better.

* According to Stora Enso’s EUTR Self-declaration 2023, the wood origin was ‘Austria 68%, Czech Republic 24%, Germany 3%, Slovakia 3%, Sweden 2%’