The Addington prison building in the Neo-Gothic Revival style was built in 1874 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Criminals ruled here until 1999. Now it is an award-winning prison-themed playground and hostel.

This Victorian criminal-themed monument is full of character and authentic Canterbury heritage. The prison was designed in 1874 by Victorian-era architect Benjamin Mountfort, who was responsible for the city’s finest buildings. His Neo-Gothic arched windows and doors are a hallmark. The building was constructed to hold criminals in custody; it was sturdy and ready to withstand the coming centuries and everything that entails, including earthquakes. Benjamin Mountfort was one of the first to use reinforced concrete in construction.

The prison was a damp, eerie stone space for the first few criminals from the Canterbury province. The new building in Addington, built in 1860, was much larger than the first prison block (now called the Mountfort block), including a "correctional facility" for female prisoners built in 1871. The main prison block was constructed between 1874 and 1880. Authorities erected many other buildings and used the site in various ways until male prisoners were transferred to Paparua in 1925. The prison became a female institution and remained so until the 1950s. New Zealand military found uses for the grounds and utility buildings and then used the prison block as barracks until 1959, when the Department of Corrections reclaimed the prison and used it until 1999.

The Christchurch City Council made great efforts to preserve the prison building and the concrete perimeter wall, a strange and semi-ruined wall that probably dates back to the time when female prisoners were categorized and held separately. This is possibly the oldest surviving prison block in New Zealand, although New Plymouth Prison (1843) was recognized as the oldest operating institution when it closed in 2013.

But if you decide to stay at the Jailhouse hotel, you will be greeted by a prison that looks like a film set, Mountfort’s Gothic arches, and some reminders of the prison’s past days, especially considering it closed only two decades ago. One room is dedicated to a prison museum with preserved prisoner inscriptions, and you can even buy striped pajamas as a souvenir. The rest of the prison grounds have been turned into a city park.

You can dress up as a prisoner and pose with your prisoner ID number. The atrium is flanked on both sides by communal cells, which now house shared, double, and triple rooms that have been upgraded with comfortable beds but have retained much of their original appearance.

The hostel’s bicycles, parked in the atrium, come with a sign offering "prisoners on the run" to take one for a quick escape.

Sources:

https://www.heritage.org.nz/list-details/7467/7467#details

https://www.uniqhotels.com/jailhouse-accommodation

https://places.nz/10104