High-profile school shootings are shaping how architects design the modern American school, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The safety features, some required by state law, include measures meant to keep armed perpetrators out and to help first responders. Architects are also looking to include open interior spaces too, to foster a sense of community and lessen the isolation that many students are prone to feeling. How school buildings are being designed in 2024 range from the use of limited entry points and the use of materials to make window difficult to break, to building inner walls with concrete blocks, and the positioning of classroom doors to limit visibility from corridors.
“There’s evil in the world and bad things happening, so we have to be able to respond to that,” says Brian Carter, chief executive of the Pacific Northwest firm Integrus. But diverse perspectives are needed in addition to the first-responder perspectives in designing for school safety, he says.
The Wall Street Journal
