Purpose-Built for Treatment, Safety, and Reentry
The new West County Reentry, Treatment and Housing (WRTH) facility in Richmond, California, represents a significant step forward in how detention environments support individuals with behavioral health and medical needs.
Designed by DLR Group and delivered through a design-build partnership with Sletten Construction, the $106.5 million, 84,334-square-foot facility combines secure housing, treatment spaces, medical services, and reentry programming within one carefully planned building. The facility includes 272 beds across general-population and specialized treatment units.
Rather than replicate a traditional jail environment, Contra Costa County prioritized trauma-informed design principles intended to reduce stress and support stabilization. Natural light, access to outdoor areas, open sightlines, acoustic control, and calming interior finishes help create a more normalized setting while maintaining the security required in a detention facility.
Supporting Specialized Behavioral Health Care
The facility includes an Intensive Services Unit for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, as well as a Special Services Unit for residents requiring continued treatment and monitoring. These specialized areas allow the county to dedicate more beds to behavioral health care while reducing pressure on the Martinez Detention Facility.
Medical, mental health, and custody teams are positioned near one another to improve communication, response times, and continuity of care. The building also includes a full outpatient clinic offering dental care, optometry, X-ray, and dialysis services. Reentry classrooms, vocational programming, therapeutic spaces, and family visitation areas further support the county’s focus on successful transitions back into the community.
Plumbing Built for Demanding Environments
Facilities serving both correctional and behavioral health populations place significant demands on their plumbing systems. Fixtures must withstand frequent use, resist intentional damage, support sanitation, and help reduce safety risks without creating an unnecessarily institutional appearance.
Willoughby’s stainless steel correctional and ligature-resistant plumbing fixtures are engineered with these priorities in mind. Durable construction helps reduce maintenance and downtime, while made-to-order configurations allow fixtures to be adapted to the installation, security, and operational requirements of each project. Available solutions include:
- Stainless steel toilets, lavatories, and combination units
- Ligature-resistant fixtures for behavioral health applications
- Showers and accessories designed for secure environments
- Electronic controls that help facilities manage water use
- Custom configurations designed around project conditions
Built Around Long-Term Performance
The WRTH facility demonstrates how security, treatment, and humane design can work together. Its compact layout, durable materials, centralized services, and clear circulation paths were selected to improve operational performance without compromising the quality of the care environment. The facility opened in 2026 and is designed to house individuals with a range of mental health, medical, and security needs.
Willoughby supports this same long-term approach by manufacturing plumbing fixtures for environments where safety, reliability, and maintainability are essential. By working with architects, engineers, contractors, and facility teams, Willoughby helps identify solutions tailored to the realities of secure institutional construction.
See more in the January edition of Correctional News.