Project Info
Schmidt Design Group collaborated with DLR Group and Balfour Beatty Construction to transform an outdated and inhospitable penal environment into a groundbreaking juvenile justice campus grounded in rehabilitation. The new, state-of-the-art, LEED-Gold facility serves as a one-of-a-kind national model that provides trauma-informed services and programs to help rehabilitate co-ed youth and prepare them for reintegration back into the community. The new campus prioritizes open space, providing youth with a spectrum of opportunities to create and thrive within a nature-based setting. By implementing changes that place the campus environment and connections to nature at the forefront of the rehabilitative process, the San Diego County Youth Transition Campus has inspired counties throughout the country to reimagine their approach to juvenile justice.
The project included the construction of 14 living units accommodating 168 male and female youth residents and approximately 300 staff. The facility includes an education and recreation complex, new medical and food service areas, and a support building all built across 12-acres on the County Juvenile Hall property. The campus exterior offers spaces for fitness, recreation, socialization, performance, education, and connection with nature.
In the process of transforming an environment of incarceration into one that offers the experience of a neighborhood and school campus, the safety and security of the youth housed within the facility remained at the forefront of the facility’s design. Schmidt Design Group and the project team collaborated closely with operations staff from design inception through construction to mitigate “hiding spaces” in the campus design, preventing residents and visitors from concealing contraband or foreign objects on site. Each material used on campus, from irrigation heads to basin bobble to screws for the garden planter boxes, was closely evaluated through the lenses of safety. Other safety considerations included having mulch utilized throughout the site triple-ground at the yard to ensure parcel sizes were too small to potentially be used as makeshift weapons and carefully planning tree placement to allow for the incorporation of a tree canopy without impeding security camera sightlines.
A significant element in the rehabilitative focus of the campus design is creating a connection to nature, embracing nature’s therapeutic and restorative attributes. The campus functions as an extension of the surrounding open space and features native planting throughout to create pollinator pathways, providing youth with opportunities to experience the wonder of nature at its fullest. The campus includes a 6,000-square-foot kitchen garden that is wholly operated by the youth as a part of both their rehabilitative care and educational curriculum. The culinary program allows youth to experience the “fruits of their labor,” receiving nourishment from their first-hand care of the garden.
Awards
- Honor Award, American Public Works Association, San Diego
- Honor Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, San Diego