How To Build In Prison Architect

Building rooms in Prison Architect might seem intimidating at first, but once you understand the basic process, you’ll be constructing facilities like a pro. This guide walks you through the essential steps to create any room type, from common rooms to laundries, and explains the critical requirements you need to meet for each one.

Understanding Room Requirements

Before you start building any room in Prison Architect, you need to check what that room requires. To do this, navigate to the Rooms menu at the bottom of the screen, then hover over the room type you want to build. A tooltip will appear showing all the requirements for that specific room.

For example, a common room only needs to be indoors. Other rooms may have additional requirements like specific objects or utilities that must be present.

Building An Indoor Room With Foundations

Step 1: Lay Down Foundations

The most reliable way to create an indoor room is to use foundations. Click on the “Foundations” option in the bottom left corner of your screen. You’ll have two choices: brick and concrete. Select whichever material you prefer—concrete works just as well as brick for functionality.

Draw your foundation in the desired location. This will be the footprint of your room.

Step 2: Add A Door

Every room requires an entrance. Go to the “Walls and Doors” menu, then select “Doors.” Choose a door type and place it on your foundation. Wait for the construction to complete. You now have a basic indoor room.

Step 3: Designate The Room

With your indoor structure complete, it’s time to tell the game what kind of room this is. Click on “Rooms” in the bottom left menu, select the room type you want to create (for example, “Common Room”), then drag it inside the room you just built. The room is now officially designated.

Step 4: Add Utilities (If Needed)

Many rooms require electricity or water. Click on “Utilities” at the bottom of the screen, select “Electric Cable,” and route it into your room. This ensures all electrical equipment will function properly.

Why Foundations Matter

You might be tempted to build a room without foundations—just using walls, flooring, doors, and objects. While this creates a structure that looks like a room, Prison Architect will not recognize it as an official indoor room.

If you attempt to designate a non-foundation room, you’ll see an error message indicating that the room cannot be created because it is not indoors. The game specifically requires that indoor rooms be built using the Foundations feature.

Always use foundations if you want the game to recognize your room as an indoor space. This is the golden rule of room building in Prison Architect.

Building A Laundry Room (Practical Example)

Check Requirements

A laundry room has multiple requirements: it must be indoors, and it must contain a laundry machine, a laundry basket, and an ironing board. Start by hovering over the laundry room in the Rooms menu to confirm these requirements.

Build The Foundation

Create a foundation using concrete or brick, just as you would for any other room. Make it large enough to accommodate all three required objects.

Add Required Objects

Click on “Objects” and search for the items you need. Place the laundry machine, laundry basket, and ironing board inside your foundation room. The laundry machine will need to be connected to water, so route a water pipe to it.

Add Electricity

The laundry machine requires power. Go to “Utilities,” select “Electrical,” and connect it directly to the machine. Once power is connected, any exclamation point warnings should disappear.

Designate The Room

Navigate to “Rooms,” click on “Laundry,” and drag it into your room. The laundry room is now complete and fully functional.

The General Building Process

Every room in Prison Architect follows the same basic workflow:

Check Requirements: Go to Rooms and hover over the room type to see what it needs.

Build Foundations: Use the Foundations tool to create the base of your room.

Add A Door: Install at least one door to serve as an entrance.

Add Required Objects: Use the Objects menu to place any furniture or equipment the room needs.

Connect Utilities: If the room needs electricity or water, route those utilities in.

Designate The Room: Go to Rooms, select your room type, and drag it into the space you built.

Summary

Building rooms in Prison Architect is straightforward once you understand the process. Always use foundations for indoor rooms, gather all required objects before designating, and don’t forget to connect utilities like electricity and water. By following this step-by-step approach, you can construct any room type your prison needs, whether it’s a common room, laundry, kitchen, or anything else. Practice with a few simple rooms first, and you’ll quickly master the system.

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