This building is the result of a design competition held in 1997 to develop a prototype for the Scottish Prison Service. The brief called for a comfortable, welcoming building located outwith the prison gates where visitors, mostly women and children, can prepare for and recover from their visits. Clarity is paramount in this building type. The distinction between prison and reception centre must be obvious for the latter to be effective as an independant entity. With this in mind the building is designed to maximise daylight while minimising views of the prison itself, by wrapping the accommodation around an outdoor children's play area and peeling up the patinated copper roof at its south-east corner, forming a dramatic external silhouette and uninterrupted, light-filled interior. This is the practice's first new building, which has been extremely well received by both staff and visitors.