Prisons past their cell-by date

Prisons are owned by the state but the cost of renovating them to meet modern standards would be more expensive than building anew. So France has plans to build 24 new jails around the country to give an extra 10,100 places and is looking for sites for another nine.

In total, the new prisons are expected to cost €3billion.

But creating new uses for buildings that are often solemn and forbidding – with some also having a gruesome past – is not an easy task.

In the historic papal city of Avignon, a city centre site behind the Palais des Papes has been waiting for the right project since it closed in 2003.

The mairie has just agreed a plan to turn its 160 cells into housing, shops, a youth hostel, art centre and a large, open-to-all central garden.

Previously it was planned to be a five-star hotel but the new council called in Clermont architect Vincent Speller, who designed the Grotte Chauvet exhibition centre at Pont d’Arc, and work begins late this year to finish in 2019.

In Fontainebleau, the former Musée National de Prisons has been bought by a developer to turn into 20 flats. The town is ideal for Paris commuters and also an instant tourist draw with its palace, much loved by French kings and Napoleon.

Bought for €480,000, the aim is to retain the central open area and guard tower but the outside exercise areas for prisoners will be opened up.

Plans for Saint-Michel prison in Toulouse are coming together with the aim of creating housing and – a key desire of Toulouse Métropole – a new concert hall for the Orchestre National du Capitole.

The mairie said it expected sale documents to be agreed with the state by this summer, although neighbouring residents say they have been kept in the dark in what could be a €250million project. Hundreds of flats could be created in the star-shaped prison and one wing will be demolished for the 1,900-seat auditorium.

In Grasse, overlooking the Riviera, the 1843 prison has been sold to be turned into lofts and offices with views to the Mediterranean and exhibition space in the central hall and first-floor cells.

Unused since 1992, and with severe asbestos problems, the three-storey jail was sold for an undisclosed fee, but total costs will “run into millions”.

Around €8m is the estimated bill to turn Guingamp prison into a visual arts centre and 160-seat hall. Work on the jail, which is built around a central court, should finish in 2018.