Archello Awards · Winners Announced
Archello Awards 2024 · Winners Announced
Archello Awards 2024
Winners Announced
Female Prison in Iceland

Female Prison in Iceland.

OOIIO Architecture as Architects

Madrid-based OOIIO Architecture have developed a proposal for a 'female prison' located in Iceland. The project started with the team asking people who live and work in the establishments what it felt like. The conclusion was that the worst thing about living in a correctional facility is the feeling that you are actually in one. As a result, this design does not look like a typical penitentiary.


The structure is based on natural light, open spaces and greenery such as peat, grass and flowers. it dismisses the dark spaces, small cells and grey concrete walls typical of a traditional prison. Instead of containing the functions in a singular building, this breaks into several tiny and more human scaled pavilions. The program is complex, similar to a small village, with a hospital, schools, church and theater, all working precisely at the same time.


The structure hosts three different types of inhabitants: prisoners, workers and occasional visitors. each of the users have a very specific circulation and area where they can or cannot reside in. The design resembles the cogs of a large watch, a building like a gear assembly, were all the pieces must be on the right place to make it efficient and functional, but with the best possible relation to natural light and exterior views, to increase the feeling of freedom. Using prefabricated concrete panels the construction will be economical, and efficient. the system will allow everything to be built on a short time line, with low carbon emissions. covering the building with a thick peat layer, a vernacular design typical of Iceland, will let grass to grow over the structure to capture a natural facade. It will generate an ecological isolation method needed for the harsh weather of the country.


The exterior uses metal cages containing peat that can be moved and placed on the site. the containers would plant different local flowers and grass to generate a green wall in a contemporary method. This prefabricated construction will change with the season, making life in the prison less monotonous and more human with an emphasis on nature.

Project Spotlight
Product Spotlight
News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico
12 Dec 2024 News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico

Mexican architecture studio Fernanda Canales has designed a semi-open, circular community center for... More

Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne
12 Dec 2024 News
Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne

Located in Melbourne, 550 Spencer is the first building in Australia to generate its own electricity... More

SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse
11 Dec 2024 News
SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse

In the heart of Westminster, London, the London-based architectural studio SPPARC has restored and r... More

Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals
10 Dec 2024 News
Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals

Ryohei Tanaka of Japanese architectural firm G Architects Studio designed a bijou coffee stand in Ky... More

New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades
10 Dec 2024 News
New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades

In Montreal, Quebec, Le Petit Laurent is a newly constructed residential and commercial building tha... More

RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin
10 Dec 2024 News
RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin

Located on Georgetown University's downtown Capital Campus, the McCourt School of Policy by Robert A... More

MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport
9 Dec 2024 News
MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport

MVRDV has designed a modular and multi-functional sports club in a shipping container for Amsterdam-... More

Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' awards categories
9 Dec 2024 Archello Awards
Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' project awards categories

Archello is excited to introduce a new set of twelve 'Unbuilt' project awards for the Archello Award... More