Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Architecture Firm Studies K-12 School Security, Publishes Report

  • 06/25/18

Greenville, S.C. –  For years, American citizens with a deep and abiding concern for the future of education in our country have been on high alert in the wake of constant threats to school safety. Out of this sense of concern, the K-12 Studio of community-based architecture firm McMillan Pazdan Smith has published a white paper detailing the role of Environmental Design in creating safer campuses.

The paper began as an examination of how comprehensive, integrated, and systematic solutions can address the multi-faceted set of problems that continue to lead to violent attacks on innocent people. Focusing on the promise of environmental design, the team applied conceptual layers of security systems and overarching strategic measures to arrive at conclusions. Ultimately, the paper’s purpose is to identify a clear path forward for architects and school districts to work together in achieving a greater culture of safety on campus.

“As community-based architects, this problem demands our attention,” says the paper’s author, Susan Baker, AIA, Senior Project Architect. “We see very clearly our obligation to face this question squarely and thoughtfully while proposing an integrated approach to its solution. This is not an issue we can put off to another generation of architects, but rather a statement of what we value today as a society, and how we will protect the most vulnerable among us — our children.”

To download a copy of the whitepaper, visit the firm’s website: www.mcmillanpazdansmith.com/about/expertise/k12-campus-security.

About McMillan Pazdan Smith

McMillan Pazdan Smith was recognized nationally as #6 on the Zweig Group’s 2018 “Hot Firms” list and #12 in the Architecture category of Zweig Group’s 2018 “Best Firms to Work For” list. In 2016, the firm won The McConnell Award, the Association for Learning Environment’s highest international award, for their educational planning and design work on one of South Carolina’s leading-edge STEAM middle schools.

Featured

  • Armstrong World Industries Acquires Parallel Architectural Products

    Armstrong World Industries, provider of interior and exterior architectural applications, recently announced that it has acquired the Colorado-based Parallel Architectural Products, according to a news release.

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Illinois State University Breaks Ground on College of Fine Arts Transformation

    Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project, according to university news. The series of new constructions and renovations will upgrade spaces in Centennial East, the Center for the Visual Arts, and the Center for the Performing Arts, as well as replace the existing Centennial West facility with a new Commons Building.