Detention Planning & Design

BKV Group plans and designs detention facilities that balance safety, security, operational efficiency, staff wellness, and positive resident outcomes. Our team understands that modern detention facilities must support supervision, classification, healthcare, programming, and future flexibility while creating environments that are safe, durable, and cost-effective to operate. From facility assessments and master planning through construction administration, we help jurisdictions develop solutions tailored to their operational needs and long-term goals.

Specialized Detention Expertise

BKV Group is one of the nation’s most experienced justice design firms, with more than 100 detention projects completed across the United States. Our team combines expertise in detention operations, facility planning, architecture, engineering, and justice system master planning to help counties develop facilities that improve safety, enhance operational efficiency, and support long-term community goals.

Our experience spans facility assessments, operational studies, staffing and supervision evaluations, space programming, behavioral health and medical planning, detention renovations, facility expansions, and new detention center design. We understand that successful detention facilities are not defined solely by their buildings, but by how effectively they support security, classification, healthcare delivery, staff recruitment and retention, and daily operations.

From planning through construction, we help clients develop practical, cost-effective solutions that address today’s operational challenges while remaining adaptable for future needs.

Key Considerations

No two detention facilities are alike, but today’s counties face many of the same challenges. Staffing shortages, aging infrastructure, behavioral health demands, and evolving operational requirements are forcing many jurisdictions to rethink how detention facilities are planned and operated. Successful facilities must balance safety and security with efficient supervision, healthcare delivery, classification, programming, and future flexibility.

At BKV Group, we approach detention planning as both an operational and architectural challenge. We work closely with sheriffs, corrections staff, county leadership, and stakeholders to evaluate how facilities support daily operations, staffing models, inmate management, healthcare services, and long-term growth. By aligning facility design with operational goals, we help jurisdictions create detention environments that are safer, more efficient, and better prepared for the future.

Detention Design Experts

KYLE YARDLEY

Justice Practice Leader, Partner
Chicago, IL

Paul michell

Vice President of Government, Partner
Minneapolis, MN

DANIEL GILLEN

Manager of Design, Associate Partner
Chicago, IL

brian reising

Project Manager
Chicago, IL

Mark manetti

Government Managing Partner

Washington, DC

Thought Leadership

Rural Jail Initiative

BKV Group’s Rural Jail Initiative reimagines public safety by integrating detention, healthcare, and community space into one efficient, future-focused model.

Justice Facilities as Civic Infrastructure

Kyle Yardley explores a more integrated approach to justice facility planning—bringing courts, detention, and sheriff operations together as a cohesive system to improve efficiency, coordination, and long-term community outcomes.

Aging Jails Cost More Than You Think

Kyle Yardley takes a closer look at the hidden costs of aging jail facilities—revealing how outdated design drives inefficiencies, increases risk, and places growing strain on staff, operations, and budgets over time

BKV Takes Part in Correctional News Roundtable

BKV Group’s Justice Practice Leader was asked to discuss justice and correctional trends in the latest issue of Correctional News. He noticed “a shifting of paradigms from a carceral model” to one “that is more healing and restorative.”

Post-Carceral Jails of the Future

Although jail design has evolved through the years, the environments can be physically and psychologically harmful. In response, BKV’s Justice Practice Leader illustrates how a post-carceral jail of the future can shift the paradigm – from punishing and punitive, to healing and restorative.