Grant, E.2013-06-212013-06-212013Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 2013; 13(2):35-441835-6354http://hdl.handle.net/2440/78440Shipping containers are gaining increasing recognition for their apparent durability, adaptability, light weight, ‘low cost' and ease of stacking, spurring a trend that has resulted in shipping container sculpture, homes, housing, hotels, and museums. The use of prefabricated, pre-manufactured and prototype building methods for prison construction has grown considerably as some jurisdictions attempt to deal with the construction of prisons with speed and economy. In the last three years, shipping containers have been used in the prison sector as a way of managing burgeoning prison populations. Recent prison developments in both Australia and New Zealand where shipping containers have been employed for prisoner housing are of considerable interest. In this article, the financial, functional, structural, technical, environmental and architectonic impacts of this approach are discussed.enAuthors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.Prison ArchitecturePrison ConstructionPrisons South AustraliaBuilding ConstructionShipping ContainersSustainable BuildingPrisonsJournal article00201303762013062112273287 Construction8798 Environmentally Sustainable Construction879899 Environmentally Sustainable Construction not elsewhere classified12 Built Environment and Design1201 Architecture120199 Architecture not elsewhere classified2-s2.0-8487928489618885D2015/308993Grant, E. [0000-0001-6554-5288]