Mace has led a construction team in completing the HMP Five Wells prison for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

As the MoJ's Delivery Partner, Mace managed a construction team to complete the £253m project, a category C re-settlement prison in Wellingborough.

Delivering social value and positive outcomes for the local area have been a fundamental element of the project, creating opportunities for the local community. This includes 20% of the project value being spent through SMEs and businesses within 25 miles of the site, as well as upskilling over 600 local people.

With an ambition to create leading-edge facilities, in collaboration with the MoJ, Mace has developed design initiatives to deliver improved operational outcomes on the project.


Using a Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) approach, Mace implemented offsite manufacturing on the project, with 15,183 precast panels containing 2,400 windows, 19,680 conduits and 2,110 underfloor heating mats.

Mace is the MoJ's Delivery Partner on the New Prisons Programme, where it has spearheaded net zero carbon design, a new alliancing model, modern methods of construction and digital delivery on the programmes. Mace’s teams are implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM) to underpin and drive all aspects of the project from inception to operation.

The digital standards set for the programmes are considered internationally ground-breaking, putting the UK and MoJ at the very forefront of transforming construction projects.

The MoJ's investment will see the creation of 18,000 new prison places across England, including new buildings, expansions and refurbishments, boosting efforts to cut crime and kickstart the economy with new jobs and opportunities.

Mace is supporting the MoJ to make the prisons programme as sustainable and resilient as possible by introducing energy saving technology such as environmentally friendly heat pumps, and electric car charging points. Mace is using its expertise in developing innovative low carbon solutions to work alongside the MoJ and reduce CO2 emissions by 280,000 tonnes; cut energy costs by £100m; and deliver safe and secure net zero carbon prisons.