Waikeria Prison will be one step closer to becoming the largest in Aotearoa after opening its new facility next year.

Built south of Hamilton, the new Waikeria Prison will have capacity to hold 600 prisoners — and construction is underway on another unit set to hold hundreds more.

It is set to begin accepting prisoners in the middle of next year.

Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot told 1News the new prison is creating a new environment where staff can “do their best work safely to enable people to leave as better and brighter prospects”.

Meanwhile, prison director Jack Harrison said they have tried to make the environment “less intimidating” for the people that have come in to visit their whānau.

The new Waikeria Prison was built after its predecessor was widely condemned.

In 2018, then corrections minister Kelvin Davis said the place was “horrific”, and described the yards as “like animal cages”.

During the 2020-2021 new year period, it became the site of one of the country’s largest prison riots when it was set on fire.

“It’s still pretty raw for many who’ve worked here,” said Lightfoot.

In most cases, prisoners at the new facility will share a cell, while the physically disabled will have larger cells. There’s also sports fields, and a meeting house for various cultures.

Lightfoot also said there is better outdoor spaces at the new Waikeria Prison, setting it apart from the old prison where there were “large numbers of people in contained yards” in “pretty constrained environments”.

“I think you can see here we’ve created better spaces.”

Soon, construction will start on another unit, which will hold a further 800 more prisoners.

The Government said it is needed because of a crackdown on crime.

“What that means is unfortunately there probably will be an uplift in people coming into the corrections system because the seriousness of that offending needs to be reflected in consequences,” said Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell.

“The flip side of that is we’re heavily focused on rehabilitation.”

Labour corrections spokesperson Tracey McLellan said the extra space will be needed "for the wrong reasons".

“This Government is going to need every single bed it can lay its hands on because they are intent on growing the prison population, and we know that’s what’s going to happen."