ASG's Security Solutions Blog

Best Practices in Security Design

  

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By Eric David Scott
As any security executive who has been involved in the design and construction of a new facility knows, effective physical security design for a new facility requires the consideration of a multitude of human, physical, geographical, spatial, and logistical factors. In fact, these factors are so varied, numerous, and prone to change that it is nearly impossible for most architects and designers to keep up with them as well as focus on their trade. In situations like this, best-in-class architects and designers get help by consulting security specialists for the development and production of the security design.

I'd like to share a few best practices that best-in-class architectural firms implement in order to assist their clients in taking advantage of the full potential of their architectural design and provide enhanced security to the organization.

• Utilize a large number (often ten to fifteen) of collaborating consultants on various specialties in the overall building design (security, mechanical, electrical, etc.) to ensure design efforts are coordinated between disciplines.
• Employ a security consultant who possesses a broad background in more than just security. This security consultant should possess knowledge of architectural design as well as the subsystems where security intersects with the rest of the facility.
• Engage the security consultant during the programming phase, where research and decision-making is done, in order to ensure that security is factored into the scope of work to be designed.
• Consult a security expert along with the client's security stakeholders during schematic design phase which occurs in the first 10% of the design development. This early participation ensures that security is fully compatible with the larger facility design rather than forced into the design as an afterthought.

Obviously the most important aspect of these best practices is to engage security in the design process early on, not simply at the end. Consulting, programming, and planning are large parts of architectural design, and security should not be neglected in these crucial stages.

A perfect example of these best-in-class architects is NBBJ. NBBJ is an international architecture and design firm that consistently conforms to best practices when it comes to security design. I have long been impressed with the way they handle security in the architectural design process and ASG invited one of their Architects to speak at our recent ASG Security Summit & Expo in order to discuss how security stakeholders can become engaged during the early stages of the architectural design process to improve security’s value to the organization.

Now that you know what some of the best architectural design firms are doing to improve security for their clients, what have your experiences been when dealing with the architectural process? Are you seeing consistent challenges in influencing the design phase, or do you see it as an unnecessary complication? Please, share your challenges and successes in the comments below so we can further this conversation.