Washtenaw County Youth Center

Washtenaw County, Michigan

Projects:

New Facility, 34,000SF

The secure detention facility has four sleeping room pods of 10 rooms each, served by showers, toilets and a group room, flanking a large, semicircular multipurpose room.  The multipurpose room accesses several youth activities including  classrooms, computer/study areas, life-skills area, and a gymnasium. An outdoor recreation area enclosure is adjacent to the multipurpose area.

 

The Daytreatment area, adjacent to the administration area, includes classrooms, workroom, dining/multipurpose room, galley and support offices.  Control of the entryways and visiting area is achieved by the reception station and conferencing area.

The Washtenaw County Youth Center is a new secure complex integrated within the Washtenaw County’s campus of facilities, located near a busy suburban thoroughfare.  The facility houses three primary functions:  A Daytreatment program for 30 youth;  county administrative offices; and  a secure detention facility. 

 

Building support spaces include a commercial kitchen, sally port, in-take/processing area, medical/dental suite, court hearing and judges office.  A reception area and visitation room provides space for visitors.

 

The building and site has a state-of-the-art security system.  Specialized partition construction , door hardware systems, access controls and camera monitoring are integrated via computer for operational efficiency and security at the control station.

 

The facility was designed to provide plentiful interior and exterior glass - allowing supervision and daylighting.  The building and the site were designed to be environmentally friendly focusing on recyclable materials, energy efficient HVAC/lighting systems, and healthy indoor materials.