‘Active’ Security Architecture Needed, Too
The New York Times reports that architects’ visions of open, fluid landscapes are being countermanded by a medieval-like trend toward protective architectural devices.
“The Green Zone in Baghdad, Jerusalem’s separation barrier, the concrete bollards that line corporate headquarters on Park Avenue – all are emblems of an unintended new mentality,” the Times notes. “Four years after the American invasion of Iraq, this state of siege is beginning to look more and more like a permanent reality, exhibited in an architectural style we might refer to as 21st-century medievalism.”
Maybe so, but if security is an advisable architectural trend, we need to see it whole, rather than merely as an embellishment. Yes, architects in California and on Wall Street are doing wonderful things with unusual and aesthetic bollards disguised as art, benches, and so on. But sometimes facilities need more than static bollards protecting their perimeters.
They need active vehicle barriers protecting the roads leading in and out of their confines. Barriers that can stop an explosives-laden truck traveling at high speed, yet allow the efficient entry and departure of authorized vehicles.
When it comes to active access controls, aesthetic options are much more limited. One product, though, stands out – PRO Barrier Engineering’s Arrestor model anti-terrorism vehicle barrier. It’s available in over 250 colors and graphics, including logos, can be added. Or perhaps a digital finish would be a better choice. An Arrestor can look like granite, marble, brushed aluminum or any architectural material. And it not only has the U.S. Department of State’s highest crash test rating – K12 – but is fast-acting, literally a pop-up defensive device.
In the Arrestor, architecture and functionally blend to give almost a seamless look to security.