There are curtains on the windows not bars, and signs at the doors say "welcome".
From the outside, it looks like a new-build housing development, and on the inside like a nice mid-market hotel chain.
It is neither. It is the new Lilias Community Custody Unit, which is getting ready to open and accept its first residents, or prisoners.
The Scottish Prisons Service is excited about what is being billed as a “groundbreaking” transformation in how prisoners are treated.
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The idea is a far greater emphasis on reintegration and rehabilitation by using custody in the community rather than the traditional idea of jail.
Newly built, based on principles of a modern prison for women, the unit in Maryhill will house up to 24 female offenders.
The Glasgow Times was given a tour of the new centre with justice secretary Keith Brown.
It is nicely furnished, with well-equipped kitchens and comfortable en-suite rooms, not traditional cells.
The whole space is designed to give women the skills and confidence they need to be able to live back in the community and take them away from crime, once they are released.
Women will have a far greater degree of autonomy and responsibility to prepare them for life in the community once they have served their sentence.
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Anyone can be sent there, from short-term sentences to long-term, even lifers.
But it will only be after a careful assessment and towards the end of a sentence in one of the larger women’s jails in Stirling or Grampian, to help prepare for freedom again.
For long-term prisoners, of more than four years, it will only be within the last two years from their parole date. For those serving life, within the last four years.
But it is still a secure environment. Staffed by trained prison service staff and the women are only allowed community access under strict rules, the same as any other jail.
Sue Brookes, director of strategy with the SPS, said: “This really is groundbreaking, cutting-edge.
“Women in custody are traumatised, from difficult backgrounds and often with drug and alcohol problems."
The unit, she said, has been designed and built with two key pillars.
She said: “Everything is gender specific for women and it needs to be trauma-informed.
“We have really thought in detail about what being trauma-informed means.”
There is no high wall, large gate or barbed wire, the security is all on the inside. The features are there but not as obvious as in a traditional jail.
John Docherty, SPS deputy programme executive, said: “It is designed to feel less custodial. There is lots of glass and natural light.”
He also explained the practical purpose of the unit, the real prize.
He said: “It is designed to support independent living skills. The women will cook, shop [online] and budget for themselves. All skills they need when they return to the community.”
The unit is made of four living blocks each with six rooms and a communal kitchen and living space on the ground floors.
There is an accessible room for a wheelchair user and there are studio rooms for if there is a young person aged 18 to 21 in custody.
The rooms have a large bed, slightly smaller than a double, a wardrobe, wall-mounted TV, a desk and are carpeted with curtains on the window.
The rooms are en-suite and on the ground floor is the kitchen and living area.
The area has a seating area with sofas and a large TV with DVD, and an adjacent dining area has a table and six chairs.
The kitchen is equipped with an oven, microwave, kettle, toaster, blender, and a fridge and freezer for the women to cook for themselves.
Ms Brookes counters the oft-heard argument that people in prison shouldn’t have facilities that some would say are “better than my home”.
She added: “It is the right thing to do, to treat people with dignity and give decent accommodation that you would expect in the community.”
There will be health facilities on-site and education opportunities every week provided by Clyde College.
The Scottish Government hopes it will have the effect of reducing crime in the longer term and everyone benefits.
MSP Brown said: “It is a different approach. You can build more prisons but then you are going to have a higher level of prisoners and more crime.
“We have got to try and reduce the chances of reoffending - the chances of someone coming out of here and having the chance to live a life outside and not turning to a life of crime.
“What we are doing is something very different. There is nothing like this in the UK and even internationally it is a very big step. This is a new departure.
“I would ask people to look at what works. We are spending around £40,000 a year to keep someone in prison. If it means someone is not a victim of crime, then this is cost-effective if it reduces crime.
“People talk about ‘soft justice’. If that means we have fewer victims and lower levels of crime, I think that’s something people can sign up to.”
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