Architects are focusing on safety features to keep perpetrators out and create a sense of community for students.
High-profile school shootings, and the fear they spread, are shaping how architects design the modern American school.
The safety features, some required by state law, include measures meant to keep armed perpetrators out and to help first responders.
‘The typical challenge is to have the building seem very welcoming and yet at the same point not penetrable,’ said Jerry Lammers, principal of Alamo Architects in San Antonio.
But he and other architects also embrace open interior spaces to foster a sense of community. The idea is these areas can ease the isolation that might lead a troubled youth to lash out violently.
Here are some of the ways school districts are modernizing schools to combat shootings in their buildings:
1. A perimeter fence funnels people through limited entry points. A gate can be locked during school hours, and some schools station a staff member there.
2. Limiting the size of shrubbery along the school reduces hiding places. It also enhances ‘natural surveillance,’ a key element of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, or CPTED, principles.
3. A controlled-access vestibule from a single point of entry allows school staff to screen visitors. A three- point buzzer system—at the front door, just inside and in the front office—creates layers of security. The shooter who killed six people at a Nashville school in 2023 shot out the doors. A special film makes windows harder to smash through, similar to a windshield. Texas requires all exterior doors to have glass that can’t be ‘easily broken.’
4. Large, open spaces create a sense of togetherness, architects say, and help students make connections with their peers.
5. Some architects have returned to building hallway walls with concrete block. That keeps a shooter from firing through the wall and into a classroom, says David Luttrell, a principal at DAG Architects in Pensacola.
6. Wingwalls jutting into hallways give police cover in an active shooting. Architect Matt Slagle of Michigan-based Tower Pinkster said police reviewing his plan for a new high school requested the feature.
7. Doors are positioned to limit visibility from the hall, allowing students and staff to hide from view. Small vertical windows on doors also help. Classroom doors can be locked remotely using magnetic release systems.
8. Window blind systems can be quickly activated to cover classroom windows. Architects say some districts want doors or windows that can be opened quickly so students and staff can escape from ground-level classrooms.
9. Enclosed interior spaces provide safe outdoor access to grass and sunshine—a key feature of an under-construction school designed by architect Nicki Marrone of Alamo Architects in San Antonio.
Source: Wall Street Journal