HM Prison Service

HM Prison Service first approached Walker Modular in 2009 to investigate the company's bathroom pod innovations for new prison developments. Central to the contract was a bespoke Marine Grade Composite bathroom pod produced from a one-piece moulded design that was self-cleaning, supported infection control and required little or no maintenance.

A team of four specialists was assigned to the project, covering product design, technical development, project and service management. The first task was a pod manufactured as a true one-piece design that did not rely on a silicone jointing system, with a self-cleaning surface.

The structure then had to prevent escape through the walls of the pod within a 12-hour period. The design called for structural steel panels embedded within the composite structure, which in turn required a new resin system — developed in-house in a very short period — able to bond to the steel while maintaining the structural performance of the build. The same resin system gave the pod surface self-cleaning capabilities and an anti-fungal finish.

The moulds were manufactured and Walker Modular began supplying custodial bathroom pods in 2009. The locations of the prison cells cannot be revealed. The pods have proved very robust in use, and the anti-fungal surface finish has all but eliminated infection control issues.

The custodial pod required Walker Modular to engineer a composite structure around embedded steel and to develop a bespoke resin system to bond the two. It remains a defining example of the company's secure-sector capability.