Of course, there is no universal approach to designing safe schools, and issues of security can be as varied as the student body and susceptible to locale. The affluent bedroom community of Newtown, Conn., is a far cry from inner-city Chicago.

John Ronan, of Chicago-based John Ronan Architects, has overseen the design of a number of projects in high-crime neighborhoods. “We take a layered approach to building entry, extensive use of interior glazing and the avoidance of nooks and crannies where people can hide and bad things can happen,” he says.

But Ronan adds that strategies to mitigate various security scenarios are sometimes at odds with one another. “The challenge is how to design for day-to-day operational security, but also for safety during an active shooter situation,” he says. Extensive internal glazing, for instance, enhances supervision and building security on a normal day, but “could be a liability in an active shooter situation,” he says.

This is indeed a concern, especially given that open-plan layouts known to be conducive to collaborative learning are becoming increasingly common.

However, “while open plans may have vulnerabilities, they’re offset by the fact that they promote natural surveillance,” explains Ian Powell, a partner at Houston-based PBK, which focuses almost exclusively on educational facilities. He adds that ballistic glazing and stronger hardware and control systems, allowing for quicker and more secure lock-down protocols, can mitigate these concerns.

“Each project is unique, each project should be unique,” says Powell. “But, in today’s world, one of the main objectives for any school design should be to foster an ability to delay and deter, in the case of an active shooter, and to accelerate response time.”