Photo: With a focus on visibility, each academic wing in Green Local PK-12 School in Franklin Furnace, Ohio, has a boulevard that connects to the heart of the building. | Photo Credit: William Manning
By Allison McKenzie and Todd Thackery
Over the last two decades, the A/E/C industry has seen safety and security become critical design priorities for K‑12 school buildings. With this shift, architects and designers are faced with a pressing challenge: Creating educational environments that are safe, secure and functional, without turning campuses into bleak and intimidating fortresses.
While physical design strategies for emergency prevention—think open sightlines, layered perimeter security, and reinforced doors and windows—are essential components of school safety, these measures alone are not enough. As architects, we must also consider how thoughtful design choices can protect inhabitants from active threats and facilitate effective communication in the event of a serious emergency or security breach, while simultaneously supporting the wellbeing of students and staff.
Thoughtful Design Ensures Emergency Preparedness
The best way to prepare your school against threats? Prevent them from getting into the building in the first place with comprehensive access control. The new standard in U.S. schools is a single, secure point of entry for the public, with all other exterior doors remaining locked from the outside. A secure vestibule with intercoms or camera systems at that main entrance should funnel visitors into the main office for vetting before they can enter the building proper. Front offices can be strategically located at this entrance with windows overlooking approaching paths, parking, and drop-off zones, giving administrators direct line of sight to observe anyone coming onto campus. If a bad actor manages to enter this area, electronic locks on these doors can be engaged remotely to prevent further intrusion.
Preventing an intruder’s entry to a school will always be a top design priority—but if a threat gains access to the building, it’s important to understand how internal design can passively deter or slow down that threat. Administrative offices and community spaces (like libraries or cafeterias) are often placed near the entrance, while classroom wings are set deeper inside or on higher floors. This zoning creates a buffer between the entrance and student learning areas; it also allows schools to welcome community use of certain areas after hours without exposing the entire school to potential intruders.
Separating students from threat
Compartmentalization is another key tactic that can save lives in an emergency. Hallways and building sections can be separated by fire doors or security doors that close during lockdowns to compartmentalize the building and contain a threat. This type of compartmentalization has the added benefit of creating smaller “neighborhoods” within a large school, which can make large buildings feel smaller and more comfortable for young students. New designs often incorporate multiple exits from each learning neighborhood, enabling students to escape the building without backtracking toward a danger point, if necessary.
Doors
Photo Credit: Kevin G Reeves
To protect students if an intruder does attack, new schools are using target-hardening elements in a discreet way. Classroom doors are one such focus; modern designs require classroom doors that lock from the inside (often via thumb-turn or remote mechanism) so teachers can secure rooms quickly without stepping into the hall. Many districts have retrofitted older doors with magnetic or electronic locks for quick lockdown capability. These strategies must be carefully balanced, though, with the need for students to be able to quickly and easily exit the building in other emergency situations, such as fires.
Solid-core or bullet-resistant doors and frames are also becoming increasingly common for classrooms and offices, coupled with ballistic film or laminated glass on windows to slow down forced entry. In addition, design best practices now recommend that each classroom have a “shadow zone,” or safe corner out of the line of sight of door windows to increase protection when students are required to shelter in place.
Training
Beyond the necessary physical safeguards, comprehensive training is an equally critical element of emergency preparedness. All staff should be included in active shooter training, which should be as realistic as possible; local first responders will ideally work with school staff members in active shooter role-playing that will allow them to create a mental database of appropriate actions in a crisis. Additionally, multiple staff members should know where to locate and how to use emergency medical bags in the event of serious injuries.
Maintaining a welcoming learning environment
Importantly, all of these strategies must be balanced with design decisions that make the building feel safe and welcoming. After all, a school can have secure doors and sightlines without losing the warmth, joy and creativity that define a learning space. Elements such as soft and natural materials (e.g., wood, warm fabrics), natural lighting and calming colors can all create a more comfortable, less institutional atmosphere. Spaces like small nooks, extended learning areas or even areas of diverse seating options within a larger space provide students with choice in how and where to engage with the building and others, giving them an important sense of autonomy. Meanwhile, visible and easily accessible support services (counseling and wellness centers) can encourage students to seek help early and address conflicts or mental health issues before they escalate to safety threats.
Read more about the value of clear and efficient communication in the event of a quickly evolving emergency, advanced security systems and more in the May/June edition of School Construction News.
Allison McKenzie is vice president and director of Environmental Responsibility for SHP. Todd Thackery is senior vice president of SHP.