Date: |
14 Aug 2026, 9.30AM – 10.30AM |
duration: |
1 hr |
Venue: |
Hawkes Bay Prison |
Address: |
138 Mangaroa Road Hastings |
Cost: |
Free event |
By bringing designers, the main contractor and specialist sub-contractor partners together from the earliest stages, the project has created a highly collaborative delivery environment where design, consenting, procurement and construction can progress in parallel. The result is a faster, more integrated approach to delivering complex infrastructure and a model that offers valuable lessons for the wider industry.
The Accelerated Capacity Project (ACP) is a Department of Corrections initiative to rapidly increase high-security prison capacity at Hawke's Bay Regional Prison through the delivery of two new 80-cell High Security Units, associated support facilities, exercise yards, and extensive security infrastructure. The project is being delivered under an accelerated Design & Build model, requiring design, procurement, fabrication and construction activities to occur concurrently rather than through a traditional sequential delivery process.
To achieve this programme, the project team adopted Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) as fundamental design drivers rather than optional enhancements. Building elements were deliberately standardised and repeated wherever possible, reducing design complexity, streamlining coordination, and enabling lessons learned to be rapidly applied across identical components. Offsite manufacture and prefabrication opportunities have also been maximised, allowing fabrication, design development and site construction activities to proceed simultaneously.
Supporting these initiatives is a fully integrated BIM-led delivery process, enabling complex structural, services, architectural and security interfaces to be coordinated virtually before construction occurs on site. Together, digital engineering, staged consenting, DfMA, ECI and offsite manufacture demonstrate how a highly collaborative project team can accelerate the delivery of a complex, highly serviced and highly secure facility.
The site walk will provide an opportunity to discuss the engineering challenges, design decisions and construction methodologies that have enabled ACP to achieve its accelerated programme while maintaining the demanding operational, security and performance requirements of a modern correctional facility.
ACP is a demonstration of what can happen when Design & Build principles are fully embraced.
By bringing designers, the main contractor and specialist sub-contractor partners together from the earliest stages, the project has created a highly collaborative delivery environment where design, consenting, procurement and construction can progress in parallel. The result is a faster, more integrated approach to delivering complex infrastructure and a model that offers valuable lessons for the wider industry.
The Accelerated Capacity Project (ACP) is a Department of Corrections initiative to rapidly increase high-security prison capacity at Hawke's Bay Regional Prison through the delivery of two new 80-cell High Security Units, associated support facilities, exercise yards, and extensive security infrastructure. The project is being delivered under an accelerated Design & Build model, requiring design, procurement, fabrication and construction activities to occur concurrently rather than through a traditional sequential delivery process.
To achieve this programme, the project team adopted Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) as fundamental design drivers rather than optional enhancements. Building elements were deliberately standardised and repeated wherever possible, reducing design complexity, streamlining coordination, and enabling lessons learned to be rapidly applied across identical components. Offsite manufacture and prefabrication opportunities have also been maximised, allowing fabrication, design development and site construction activities to proceed simultaneously.
Supporting these initiatives is a fully integrated BIM-led delivery process, enabling complex structural, services, architectural and security interfaces to be coordinated virtually before construction occurs on site. Together, digital engineering, staged consenting, DfMA, ECI and offsite manufacture demonstrate how a highly collaborative project team can accelerate the delivery of a complex, highly serviced and highly secure facility.
The site walk will provide an opportunity to discuss the engineering challenges, design decisions and construction methodologies that have enabled ACP to achieve its accelerated programme while maintaining the demanding operational, security and performance requirements of a modern correctional facility.
