Milestone Church, Keller, Texas; design and image: GFF
One would like to believe that houses of worship are exempt from threat, but history has shown this isn’t the case. While this may be a tough pill to swallow, architects and designers can assist their church clients in making their facilities more secure.
Jacquelyn Block, AIA, LEED AP, associate principal and director of the ChurchWorks Studio at GFF Inc. in Dallas explains that in her designs, she strives to incorporate the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. As its title suggests, the concept behind CPTED is to make the built environment safer by designing it that way.
“This is a concept that’s been around for a really long time, but it’s starting to get more emphasis due to what’s happening [in the world] and more churches are thinking about it,” Block says. Following CPTED best practices isn’t more expensive necessarily, she adds, “and a lot of these strategies help create a more welcoming, inviting building.”
When designing with security in mind, here are some elements to consider:
Egress
Simon Osamoh is founder of Kingswood Security Consulting in Chaska, Minnesota, and author of several books, including Securing Church Operations: A Seven Step Plan for Ministry and Safety Leaders, and Church Safety: Responding to Suspicious Behavior. He was head of counter terrorism at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and prior to emigrating to the U.S., he spent 14 years working as a detective in England with a focus on organized crime. (In 2006 he was part of the team that collaborated with the British Security Service on the liquid bomb terrorism plot against the U.S.) His firm consults on security matters with for-profit and non-profit organizations including churches, and provides security risk assessments.
“You can get into the danger where a building design has 14-15 entrances and the church has no idea who is inside the building."
Simon Osamoh, Founder, Kingswood Security Consulting, Chaska, MN
When working with architects, Osamoh highlights building egress as a key element in making a building safer. He acknowledges that this can be a challenge with churches, which are focused on community outreach and, therefore, want their facilities to be open to the public.
“You can get into the danger where a building design has 14-15 entrances and the church has no idea who is inside the building, which can be a safety risk,” Osamoh says. “Secondly, they have no way to manage those entrances because they’re not designed to go past an entry point, like a front desk area.”
Instead, Osamoh encourages churches to funnel people through one or two entrances that are well-marked. “You’ll know who’s inside your building, and those guests, staff members, and pre-school families can be greeted by someone,” he describes. This interaction contributes to the church’s mission––outreach––while keeping everyone safer.
Jesus Villahermosa was a deputy sheriff and point man for the S.W.A.T. team in Pierce County, Washington, for 33 years. During his tenure, he was a first responder to a number of mass shootings, including one at his son’s high school. (Thankfully, his son survived.) Throughout his career, Villahermosa has researched mass shootings around the world. As president of Crisis Reality Training Inc., based in University Place, Washington, he teaches leadership at K-12 school districts, higher education institutions, and corporations how to protect themselves in the event of a mass shooting. He also provides consulting services and security risk assessments to help architects and organizations to design safer facilities.
Villahermosa underlines the importance of vestibules that control building access. These walled-in spaces close guests off from the rest of the facility while awaiting admittance, and often incorporate a window between the reception area and antechamber. He says that this window should be either shatterproof or laminated with bullet-resistant material; the lower wall beneath the reception window should be bulletproof so that an active shooter can’t fire through it, either. The reason: upon hearing gunfire, administrative staff will likely drop to the floor. If the wall material isn’t bulletproof, they risk being shot while taking shelter.
Villahermosa underlines the importance of vestibules that control building access. These walled-in spaces close guests off from the rest of the facility while awaiting admittance, and often incorporate a window between the reception area and antechamber.
“Sandy Hook had a vestibule, but it was all [untreated] glass,” Villahermosa illustrates. “The shooter just shot through the glass pane, walked right through and started the massacre because he had complete access. A vestibule restricts the visitor’s access to one point, and at that point is when we decide if we let you go any further.”
[When detailed directions are needed just to navigate a building] ... "It’s not welcoming, for a visitor, to not know which door they should go in. And then from a security perspective, that is a risk because you have people wandering around your campus.”
Jacquelyn Block, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Principal and Director of the ChurchWorks Studio, GFF Inc., Dallas, TX
Block points out that a primary entrance also makes for a better guest experience. As a church architect who visits many houses of worship, she cites her own experience: many times, prior to arriving at a meeting, she receives detailed directions on how to get into the building. “[They’ll specify] go here, then here, turn right over by the garden, and it’s the third entry,” she illustrates. “It’s not welcoming, for a visitor, to not know which door they should go in. And then from a security perspective, that is a risk because you have people wandering around your campus.”
Family Hope Center, Buckner International, global faith-based non-profit in Dallas; design and image: GFF
While some facilities opt to position security cameras at entry points, Block notes that placing administration and reception at the entrance provides for what CPTED calls “natural surveillance.” Block says that this gives church staff visibility into the parking area and a clear view of who is approaching the building. It can also serve as a deterrent to malicious parties because it is more difficult to remain unseen while accessing the facility.
Glass
Most would agree that expansive window systems make for a beautiful structure, both inside and out. As mentioned above, the problem with too much glass is that an active shooter can easily fire into it and gain access to a facility––and worse, hit their targets.
“Active shooters are stimulated by sight and sound––if they can’t see you, they’re not going to hunt for you,” Villahermosa says. “If they look in a room and they see nothing, they’re gone. And the reason for that is they’re in a hurry because the cops are coming.”
That’s not to say that Villahermosa believes churches should be bunkerized to prevent all visibility into every room. “Aesthetic appeal can be met, architecturally, without giving up the requirements of ambient light simply by finding a common ground for safety,” he says. “That middle ground should be: what meets this criteria but still allows us to offer people more shelter in a shooting?”
“If [active shooters] look in a room and they see nothing, they’re gone. And the reason for that is they’re in a hurry because the cops are coming.”
Jesus Villahermosa, Retired Deputy Sheriff, S.W.A.T. Team, Pierce County, WA
Take a church daycare––which requires visibility into it––as an example: much like the vestibule, Villahermosa’s solution is four feet of bulletproof wallboard from the ground up, combined with either shatter-resistant glass, or windows treated with bullet-resistant laminate. This provides children and their caregivers the opportunity to take shelter against the wall during an active shooting.
Villahermosa also counsels shatter-resistant glass or bullet-resistant laminate for exterior windows––but not all of them. While treated windows provide protection from outside threats, there may be a need for occupants to break the glass and escape. Conversely, law enforcement positioned outside may need a shot into the space when they locate the shooter. To strike this balance, Villahermosa suggests treating either the largest exterior window in a space––or several smaller ones, depending on the design––and labeling them with something as simple as a sticker. Importantly, facilities should let the police know of any bullet-resistant windows on the premises, well ahead of any incident. This way, the authorities can record this in the organization’s premise history and arrive on scene informed.
Doors
Locking down is critical in minimizing casualties during a mass shooting. This enables occupants to take shelter in a space, lock the door, and barricade it with whatever furniture they can find. But barricading is only possible with inward-swinging doors. “You can’t barricade an outward-swinging door––it’s impossible,” Villahermosa points out. “You can only hold the handle and slide something over the swing arm.” His advice: designs should include inward-swinging doors only.
Wayfinding and compartmentalization
Clear way-finding (including signage) also provides for a good guest experience, and once again reduces the number of people wandering around areas where they don’t belong. Block says that she and her team also try to remove any nooks or crannies that could serve as easy hiding places for intruders.
Because many churches rent out their facilities for third-party use, designs should take into account which areas these groups have access to, and which should remain isolated from the public. “Maybe you’re renting out the space for an event, and you want the rest of the building to be secured,” Block illustrates. Compartmentalizing facilities also enable churches to lock down specific portions of the building in an emergency, she adds.
Vehicular traffic
Block notes that when site strategizing the exterior grounds of a facility, she and her team aim to pull the primary vehicular circulation away from the building. “Obviously there will be cross-aisles and parking, but we want to get the faster traffic away from the building,” she explains. In separating vehicular and pedestrian traffic as much as possible, pedestrians run less risk of getting hit by a car.
Defined perimeters
Lit signage at the edge of church grounds helps to designate that this is a private property, which could help to deter unwanted visitors, Block says. She also notes that well-maintained properties send the message that they may be monitored. “When a building looks rundown [a potential intruder] may think, ‘they’re not watching, they don’t care about their facility. They probably don’t have cameras and security,’” she illustrates. “Maintaining your property can help to deter crime, and again, it’s also a great thing for the congregation and the people visiting your property.”
Grants
Osamoh notes that some churches may be eligible for grant money that is earmarked for non-profits seeking to boost their security. He points churches toward FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program for 501(c)(3) organizations.
Block recognizes that some churches may be reticent to discuss security because it’s uncomfortable to acknowledge that bad things can happen anywhere, even in houses of worship. But she argues that, for architects, it’s necessary to broach the subject. “We’re at a point where we at least have to have these conversations with our clients, and discuss it, and see what the risks are,” she says. “And some of these things are really good building planning strategies anyway. They help people feel safe, and people want to go somewhere where they do feel safe and secure. This can enhance that feeling, and it can make the building more welcoming.”
