The AIA's new electronic Security by Design Resource Center, www.aia.org/security, launched "Security and Openness: Integrating Security into Office Buildings," a free eClassroom program created from a September 28 briefing hosted by the Washington D.C. office of noted international architecture firm Gensler. The center will add this fourth e-classroom program on October 12 to its growing list of resources assembled to help AIA members assist their clients make the right decisions concerning building and site security.

Hitting the main points
The 25-minute video presentation offers architects a quick primer on the most important points of office-design security issues. Gensler's Washington, D.C., office managing principal, Diane Hoskins, AIA, introduces the two speakers, Robert A. Peck, Hon. AIA, former public buildings commissioner for the General Services Administration and current president of the D.C. Board of Trade; and Robert Craig, director of security for Rolf Jensen Associates, Chicago, a long-established engineering specialist firm offering services in fire protection, code consulting, and building security.

Overview: Peck presents an overview of "Office Buildings Security," which begins by reassuring architects that "your building cannot defend against every threat to it, nor should it." Peck explains that there is not enough money in the world to provide perfect security, so we need to decide what the real threats—such as violence in the workplace—in office buildings are, and how to design to mitigate them. "We can't make our buildings into bunkers. Don't check your common sense at the door," he advises.

Technical: Craig offers two technical topics: "Terrorism," which explains "motives, means, and methods," and outlines the some of the problems of urban security, such as the complexity of building evacuation; and "American Business Initiatives," which discusses active, passive, and security systems alternatives. He then runs through six steps of designing for security: threat assessment, security audit, vulnerability assessment, categorizing the facility, defining objectives, and preparing the design.

More security programs and information
The other free e-classroom programs in the series are:
• U.S Army Corps of Engineers special briefing, a course that shows how recent design, structural, and material enhancements at the Pentagon helped mitigate damage and loss of life
• "Balancing Security and Openness," a slide show/narrative course that offers an overview of security elements incorporated into the design of public buildings, which Michael J. Stanton, FAIA, presented at a November 1999 conference cosponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. General Services Administration in cooperation with the AIA
• "Improved School Safety and Security through Architectural Design," a 2000 AIA national convention program.

The AIA also is working to create interactive formats through which members can learn about security issues. For instance, there is a November 5 virtual conference in the works. It is sponsored through the generous support of Autodesk and will allow members to take part in the program free or at nominal cost. Check with your local AIA component about presentations of the conference in your area. (Click here for a list of contacts for the AIA components). In addition, the group is firming up plans for a nationwide Security by Design conference—by architects, for architects—to be held in Albuquerque in January 2002.

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.