K-12 architects are morally driven to give it their creative best

Violence in the nation’s schools is a harsh reality. According to a Washington Post report published in March 2018, between 1999 and 2018, more than 187,000 students across 193 primary or secondary institutions experienced a shooting on school campus during school hours. Meanwhile, a study produced by the Department of Homeland Security shows that, generally speaking, Americans feel that schools are the one place kids should feel eminently safe—in some cases even more so than in their own homes. Architects specializing in K-12 facilities rely on evidence-based design principles and advancements in technology to optimize security in schools.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

For decades, architects have prioritized safety and security according to the principals of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). The concept of environmental design as a preemptive safety measure is far from new and spans beyond criminology.

Early Efforts

Some historians point to a time in the 1850s, when a London-based medical doctor removed the pump handle from a contaminated well, halting a deadly cholera outbreak. When it comes to crime prevention, research starting in the 1960s laid the groundwork for the involvement of architects. Studies funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development examined the differences between complexes that thrived and others that never exceeded 60 percent occupancy. Then, criminologists began dissecting designs, pinning down the structural and environmental characteristics associated with crime.

Columbine

Today, CPTED goes so far as anticipating the thought processes of potential offenders amid design processes, in order to create environments in which they feel discouraged from follow-through. Jim Henderson, a K-12 principal in the firm’s office in Harrisonburg, Virginia, observed that although this practice has been part of school design for decades, many people outside of the architecture profession learned about it in the aftermath of the Columbine shooting.

“There were incidents in schools before that, but Columbine was the one that got people’s attention and really got everyone thinking a lot more about these concepts,” said Henderson, who was then seven years into his career as an architect.

CPTED Principles

At a basic level, CPTED calls on four principles:

• Natural surveillance (on the premise that criminals do not like being seen or recognized)
• Natural access control (denying a sense of control through marked approaches)
• Territorial reinforcement (clear distinctions between public and private spaces)
• Maintenance (on the premise that well-maintained structures show that people care about what happens inside)

Over the years, however, evidence-based research has resulted in countless other concepts—including the culmination of individual ideas by various architects. As a result, “We’ve got a lot of institutional knowledge, just from the volume of schools that we’ve done,” Henderson said.

Design Process

Ashley Dennis, a K-12 principal in the firm’s office in Raleigh, North Carolina, said CPTED should never include a formulaic approach, but rather should be applied during the creative process, based on the uniqueness of the project.

“Not every site is the same, nor is every district,” Dennis noted. “Although our methodology is informed by our extensive experience in K-12 architecture, we always approach this on a school-by-school basis to avoid cookie-cutter designs.”

Perimeters

In most cases, that process starts with a fresh take on the perimeter, where fencing is incorporated, along with appropriate levels of lighting and clearly visible entry systems. Beyond those fences, roofs are made extremely difficult to access and electronic door locks prevent entry by unauthorized individuals.

Sub-Perimeters and Partitions

Evidence shows that many school shooters are students, faculty, or staff—all of whom have access. For this reason, architects are pressed to also consider what happens on the inside, after those individuals have gained entry.

“Instead of just thinking of the building perimeter, like the front door and other access points, and systems for centralized lockdown, we’re also creating things like clusters of classrooms, where we can generate sub-perimeters and partitions,” Henderson said. “For instance, you may hit a panic button to close doors and lock off one section, which might include four classrooms around one open area.”

Inside those individual classrooms, designs often incorporate small sections of wall to partition off views from doorways.

Training to Understand the Environment

Studies show criminals are apt to skip over classrooms they cannot see into. However, if an intruder is only a few feet away, it may be too late to pull down a shade or close blinds.

Teachers can be trained to move students to a part of the classroom that is obstructed from windows and doors, where an active shooter cannot see without gaining interior access. Therein lies what Henderson and Dennis both suggested is an added layer for CPTED, and one they feel is most important: training occupants to understand the designed environment.

According to information published by the American Institute of Architects, 70 percent of schools run active-shooter drills. Henderson and Dennis believe effective training begins with understanding the design.

“When we’re designing new schools, additions, or renovations, we educate teachers, administrators, and staff,” Dennis said. “We help them understand functions like entry points and security systems, but we also prepare them for what they should expect to see and not see in various locations throughout the day.”

This component is what some experts call the organizational aspects of CPTED, which, “… includes how we incorporate management strategies, operational strategies and people-based strategies,” said Randy Atlas, Ph.D., FAIA, CPP, president of Atlas Safety and Security Design Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale. For example, a design may incorporate numbered systems for access points. School administrators can then refer to these numbers in communications with first responders, who will be equipped with floor plans that indicate the location of each number.

Education Remains the First Objective

Architects are charged with the delicate balance of designing learning environments that are highly secure, but also welcoming and engaging.

“We do have a moral obligation to make these schools as safe as possible,” Henderson said. “But as educational designers, we also have a real obligation to make them the best learning environments they can be. That remains our first objective.”

A 2010 study found negative correlations between the presence of metal detectors and students’ sense of safety. Some experts argue that, in its earliest days, those sorts of unintended consequences plagued CPTED. However, the Centers for Disease Control advocates for elements that offer benefits like the perception of warmer and more welcoming environments, improved physical and social order, and a sense of ownership among students.

Security System Design

John Edmund, Moseley Architects’ security systems specialist, said he considers these concepts when advising the firm’s design teams.

“We’ve got to find that middle ground,” he observed. “And that makes it kind of tricky. You want to give students the best security possible, but you also can’t turn each school into Fort Knox. I don’t want it looking that way for students.”

Instead, Edmund suggested that there are ways to get better results out of fewer components, such as using dome-shaped cameras in lieu of bullet-shaped (directional) cameras.

“Sometimes you’re limited, so you want to do the most that you can,” he continued. “A single, dome-shaped camera with a smoked lens might be more effective than a single camera pointing at a door, where a criminal would recognize that it’s the only place they’ve got to worry about being seen.” Compared to an abundance of cameras, a single dome-shaped camera also has fewer psychological impacts on students.

“When the budget doesn’t allow for cameras everywhere, I’d rather have one that makes you think it could be looking anywhere,” Edmund added.

Artificial Intelligence

The future of CPTED will demand more creativity, but it may be bolstered by artificial intelligence. Edmund cited artificially intelligent cameras, programmed to detect when individuals are in areas they should not be. These cameras could be where some of the next advancements come for CPTED, via artificial intelligence.

“For years, cameras have activated on motion, but now you can actually program some systems with if/then commands, like, ‘If you see something that looks like a person in this area, then send an alarm,’” he said. He likened these features to the automatic driver assist systems now found on vehicles, which are designed to intercede in certain events, like when drivers fail to notice a stopped vehicle. Those systems have grown intelligent enough to distinguish specific objects. In security, he said, it might mean being able to spot firearms.

Conclusion

Despite architects’ best collective efforts, these incidents continue to occur on a much too regular basis. In February 2018, 17 people were fatally shot and 17 more injured at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. At Santa Fe High School in Texas, 10 more were killed that following May.

With hard evidence pointing to CPTED’s effectiveness, Moseley Architects K-12 designers know the concept is more than just a set of check boxes; it is a guttural urge and a moral responsibility that fuels their creativity.

“I have a young son. He’s in the first grade… It hits closet to home when we discuss this topic at conferences, because it’s heart wrenching. As a designer, you want to do the best you can for any and everybody—for every district, every school and every group of students, teachers and parents,” Dennis said.

Through their multidisciplinary approach, Moseley Architects continues to focus on designing solutions that can help prevent crimes while creating safe learning environments that support and welcome children.