El Paso County Jail

Architect of Record: CSNA Architects, Colorado Springs

Associate Architect: Reilly Johnson Architecture, Denver

Contractor: J.E. Dunn Construction, Colorado Springs

Precaster: Stresscon Corp., Colorado Springs

Structural Engineer: HCDA Engineering, Colorado Springs

Insulation Manufacturer: Composite Technologies Corp., Denver

Owner: El Paso County, Colo.

Fitting a square peg into a round hole, as the old saying advises, usually is difficult if not impossible. But when the El Paso County, Colo., government decided it needed a new round jail, the local precaster responded with solutions to that and other challenges.

The story began with a burgeoning jail population around Colorado Springs, the seat of El Paso County. A new detention facility was needed, and county officials liked the one in nearby Jefferson County, outside Golden, Colo. That building is round, and while that presented security benefits, it presented construction challenges.

Designers used that facility as their functional model, but they incorporated a variety of improvements, both architectural and other types, explains Dave Bourgault, senior engineer at Stresscon Corp. The Colorado Springs-based precaster provided 1,500 pieces of precast, prestressed concrete for the new jail.

“Architecturally, they liked the facility in Jefferson County, and they liked the way it worked.” The main advantage to round prisons is the ability of one guard to keep an eye on all the cells at once, as there are no corners to block views.

Round Building, Square Pieces
“The geometry of the building was challenging,” says Jim Davis, project coordinator with Stresscon. “It’s a round building with square components inside.” Both double tees and solid floor slabs were used to create the flooring, and they were configured in pie-shaped pieces to fit the building’s shape. Round columns, 22 inches in diameter, extend from the ground to the roof and support all of the floors, a job that couldn’t have been handled by standard square columns. The columns support alternating full floors and mezzanines, with three beams, coming in at different angles, used for the main levels with two beams used for the mezzanines.

The building measures 192 feet in diameter and contains 125,255 square feet of space, according to George Diestelkamp, property manager for El Paso County. Its six stories are divided into three sets of two stories, each with its own floor where the guard station, day room and dining hall are located. When it opens next February, it will have room for 864 prisoners.

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Precast Creativity Produces Round Jail
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