Saudi Arabia Prison Bunk Bed Project | Zehao Furniture

In late 2023 a correctional facility project in Saudi Arabia came to Zehao with a drawing rather than a catalogue page. The requirement was narrow and exact: a full-size steel bunk bed, a one-piece steel deck instead of wire mesh, guardrails welded to the deck, and a frame that could not be racked apart by hand. The bed that came out of that drawing is a full-size steel bunk bed built to the client's specification.

What follows is the build record — the dimensions, the material call-outs and the joint details that matter when a prison or detention facility buys bunk beds by the container.

The brief: full size, no scaled-down sample

The client's first instruction was that the sample had to be built to the drawing at full size — no scaled-down model, no approximation. The bed was produced in two size options, both to the same construction standard.

The difference between the two options is headroom. Option A clears 2350 mm for a site that wants the lower berth used as seating or storage; Option B drops to 1880 mm where ceiling clearance or a lower sightline matters. Both share the same frame, the same deck and the same joint.

Frame and deck: where the strength actually sits

The frame is a 60 × 60 mm square tube. The original drawing called out a 6 mm wall; the client marked that figure and corrected it to 1.5 mm or 2.0 mm. The correction is worth noting, because on a correctional bed the load is carried by the closed section and the deck, not by wall weight. A 60 × 60 closed section at 2.0 mm is stiff enough for two occupants and a mattress without adding dead weight to every container.

The sleeping surface is a full-size steel plate, not wire mesh and not slats. Mesh and slats leave gaps — a place to work a bent spoon, a stripped screw or a length of torn sheeting. A solid plate leaves no such gap. Each deck plate is cut to 1916 × 887 mm and covers the full inner width of the berth, so the plate itself becomes the structural floor of the bed.

Insert-pin connection, welded guardrails

Upper and lower bunks lock together on an insert-pin connection rather than a bolt-through joint. The point of the pin is the same as the point of the solid deck: fewer exposed fasteners means fewer things to remove.

The guardrails are welded to the bed plate, not bolted. A bolted rail can be undone with a wrench, or with a toothbrush handle sharpened against a floor. A welded rail is part of the deck and cannot be separated without cutting equipment and time — the two things a correctional facility manages most tightly.

The drawing's material list runs Ø50 × 2, 30 × 60 × 2, Ø28 × 1.5, Ø12 × 1.5 and 25 × 25 × 2 tube, with 3 mm steel plate at the deck and drilled insert joints carrying the upper frame onto the lower posts. Five Ø10 through-holes and three Ø10 through-holes locate the deck plates and the joint pins.

Why correctional buyers write the spec this way

Prison and detention furniture is bought against three quiet tests that never appear in a tender document. Can a detainee remove a fastener with what is already in the cell? Can something be hidden inside, under or behind the bed? Will the bed still be standing after a decade of hard use? The Saudi brief answers all three in the construction itself: a solid steel deck, welded rails and an insert-pin joint leave no removable hardware on the exposed faces and no cavity inside the berth.

Load is verified, not assumed. Zehao's metal bunk beds are load-tested to 200 kg per berth under SGS, and the factory holds EN 747 for the bunk range, EN 1725 for single beds, CE and ISO 9001. The prison bunk bed CB-01 is the closest standard-line equivalent on the site if you want the same anti-tamper logic without a custom drawing.

Factory-direct ordering, MOQ and container loading

Each bed is welded, powder coated and packed in our own plant in Tianjin — Zehao is the manufacturer, not a trading desk, which is why a full-size sample could be cut, welded and shipped against a customer drawing in one cycle.

• MOQ: 50 sets per size and finish.
• Lead time: 25–35 days from approved drawing and deposit.
• OEM / ODM: inner size, wall thickness, plate count, RAL colour, stencilling and project labelling are set to order; a private-label run is quoted per project.
• Certifications: EN 747, EN 1725, CE, ISO 9001 and SGS 200 kg load test — the full list is on the certifications page.
• Container loading: knocked-down flat-pack; per-20GP and per-40HQ bed counts come with the quotation — see the container loading plan.

Frequently asked questions

Can the bed be taken apart by hand?

No. The upper and lower bunks lock together on an insert-pin connection and the guardrails are welded to the deck, so there is no exposed bolt or screw to remove with whatever is already in the cell.

Is it built to stop fighting or self-harm?

Yes. There are no sharp edges, no loose or removable parts and nothing to break off and swing. The welded rails and the solid steel deck are the anti-tamper logic.

Can anything be hidden inside or underneath it?

No. The deck is a full-size solid steel plate — not mesh, not slats — so there is no gap or cavity to stash an object.

What load is it rated for?

200 kg per berth, independently load-tested under SGS. The factory holds EN 747 for the bunk range, EN 1725 for single beds, plus CE and ISO 9001.

Can you build it to our drawing and size?

Yes. Inner clear size, wall thickness, plate count and RAL colour are all set to order. MOQ is 50 sets per size and finish.

How does it ship?

Knocked-down flat-pack. Per-20GP and per-40HQ bed counts come with the quotation.

Related correctional projects

This bed follows the same platform used on correctional projects in three other regions:

• UAE correctional facility — anti-vandal metal bunk bed project
• Africa prison and institutional bunk beds — Guinea, Malawi, Uganda
• Malaysia government prison double-decker steel bunk bed project
• Anti-tamper welded bunk bed CB-01 — product details
• Full bunk bed range