2022 Design Team of the Year finalist: Greene County Sheriff's Office and Jail

In designing the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Jail, architect Jennifer Wilson of nForm Architecture LLC faced several challenges.

“Overall, it is a civic building, and so there are a lot of things that we have to consider,” she said. “We’re spending taxpayer money, so we need to make sure the designs we do are efficient and durable, but it also needs to convey a sense of pride for the community.”

Sturdy precast concrete was used for the cells in the jail, and Wilson said the same material was used in the Sheriff’s Office for a seamless look.

“This project was probably one of the smoothest construction projects I’ve been part of,” she said. “All parties got along really well and worked hand-in-hand all the way through.”

She said staff of every rank within the Sheriff’s Office were part of providing feedback on the design.

The professional design and construction team also worked well together, she said.

“From the construction manager and contractor side, people were very communicative. There were not a lot of surprises that went on in that project,” she said, noting the project was completed on schedule.

Throughout, the team kept in mind who the project would serve.

“Jails are actually for people that have not been convicted,” she said. “They’ve been charged with an offense and are being detained.”

The new jail has a 1,242-inmate capacity, compared to the 800-person capacity of the outgrown jail it replaces. It came in under budget by about $1 million, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

The space has to comply with American Correctional Association standards, with requirements for daylight and the amount of space per person, she said, noting that meeting people’s needs is important to maintaining order.

“I would hope that in all types of architecture, people change their behavior based on the environment that they’re in,” she said. “Since it is a clean, modern jail, it helps with the behaviors of people in the building.”

The Sheriff’s Office offers spaces for detective and patrol divisions to work together, something they did not have room to do previously, as well as training sites on the premises.