The shooting rampage that left 17 Florida high school students dead in February triggered a massive response by young people across the country demanding meaningful gun policy reform from legislators. But architects have been working to design safer facilities for years, shaping the built environment to contend with the brutal reality that the nation has seen at least 239 school shootings since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.
“The challenge is to balance security concerns with the overarching goal of providing a school building that will nurture and inspire students and connect to the community that it serves”, says Jay Brotman of Svigals+Partners, in New Haven, Conn., who led the design of the new Sandy Hook School that opened in August 2016. With rigorous planning of both site and structure that adheres to crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), a multidisciplinary approach to discouraging criminal activity, Brotman says “you can achieve a more secure school that is in harmony with nature and creates a better learning environment for the next generation.”
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