CROWDED PLACES
Mark Lester explores the key issues and the solutions available to help mitigate against potential terrorist threats, without altering the overall landscape.
THE SUCCESSFUL SPECIFICATION OF ANTITERRORISM SOLUTIONS A
s crowded places remain an attractive target for terrorists, architects and specifiers have an increasing challenge to successfully blend counter-terrorism protective security measures with the urban design principles of the public space they’re creating. Within the government’s ‘Protecting Crowded Places: Design and Technical Issues’ guide, it provides those involved in the development and maintenance of the built environment with a comprehensive basis for the appropriate specification of anti-terrorism solutions. The document offers advice and guidance on how high design quality can be upheld throughout the commissioning and planning of new development schemes,
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COUNTER TERROR BUSINESS MAGAZINE | ISSUE 43
without impacting on the overall style and intention of the place in question. Using this guide as a basis, professionals should first understand the varying circumstances and associated degrees of risk that each project presents, before looking to specify solutions that aim to reduce the vulnerability of the location from a terrorism perspective. For many public spaces, its crowd density may be temporary. In this instance, a specifier will be responsible for locations housing concerts or events that do not have a constant level of visitors, rather one that is concentrated at peak times. Here, the specification of temporary anti-terrorism solutions present an appealing approach as the desired
