Updated July 13, 2005

Security and Site Design: A Landscape Architectural Approach to Analysis, Assessment and Design Implementation, by Leonard J. Hopper, FASLA, and Martha J. Droge, Associate ASLA. Published by Wiley and Sons.

For seven years, Martha Droge, Associate ASLA, was a Special Agent with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, traveling between “the industrialized world, the third world, and the fourth world” and analyzing security for U.S. consulates and embassies. While she has since left that career to become a landscape architect and urban planner, it wasn’t a desire to design secure spaces that drove her to her new station in life. In fact, she left the world of security and anti-terrorism thinking her two careers would never intersect.

“With the State Department, I was able to travel all over the world, and I became extremely interested in the cultural messages that are included in built forms,” Droge explains. “I was interested in the fact that each generation seems to be influenced by the built forms around them, and they, in turn, build structures based on those influences that will influence the next generation.” This fascination eventually turned into a full-fledged career change, and Droge went on to earn a Master’s of Landscape Architecture*, a Master's in Urban Planning and a graduate level certificate in historic preservation from the University of Virginia.

Although Droge thought she had left law enforcement behind, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, soon brought her two careers together. Droge found herself in the unique situation of being perhaps the only landscape architect in the country with extensive federal anti-terrorism experience. After the terrorist attacks, the country began taking a serious look at site security, and she was asked to speak at ASLA-sponsored symposiums. During this time she got to know Len Hopper, FASLA, ASLA Past President, who was working on the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and who Droge describes as a “wonderful landscape architect.” The two have gone on to co-author Security and Site Design: A Landscape Architectural Approach to Analysis, Assessment and Design Implementation, the first comprehensive guide that covers security for a site rather than the building itself.

With her career taking yet another unexpected twist, Droge’s design philosophy remains steeped in exploring the differences between generations, but, like so many things, it now reflects the post-September 11 realities. “It’s important that this generation put its own mark on built forms,” she says, “by creating buildings and landscapes that are strong and beautiful and have an appropriate level of security.”

Balancing security
In their book, Security and Site Design, Droge and Hopper set out to create a guide for landscape architects who are asked to create a more secure site that is also inviting to the public. To do this, they first outline six fundamental zones that must be considered for the site:

• Street
• Parking lane
• Sidewalk
• Building yard
• Building perimeter
• Building interior

“The key is treating those areas in ways that are appropriate to the threat,” Droge says, adding that the distance of the setback between the sidewalk and the building yard, for example, is going to be larger at a higher-profile site versus a less prominent building. The landscape architect should always balance security features with the actual threat posed to the site, rather than employing a “one-size-fits-all solution,” she says.

To assess the threat to the site, Droge recommends hiring a security officer or consultant for the project. Sometimes a landscape architect has very little time to draft and plan a design, she notes, so bringing in a consultant can help the team perform a security analysis quickly leaving more time for the design phase.

Designing a secure perception
Security design should not always be invisible, Droge contends, because a lot of security is perception. “If people feel threatened, then it’s as good as if there is an actual threat,” she says.

“Sometimes a certain amount of deterrence is useful,” Droge adds. “For example, a well-designed guardhouse that is integrated into the landscape but is clearly a manned guardhouse can provide deterrence for a high-visibility building. “

Terrorists usually plan an attack for anywhere between six weeks and six months, she notes, and seek targets that are both high profile, where an attack will be noticed and covered in the media, and vulnerable so that the attack will be successful. If terrorists note a high level of security around a target, they are more likely to question the ultimate success of the attack and move on to another target. Therefore, with physical security a landscape architect should incorporate some amount of visibility. However, Droge says, the ideal design will provide that visibility while at the same time creating a beautiful landscape.

She points to the new Washington Monument landscape by Laurie Olin, FASLA, which saw its public debut on the Fourth of July, as an example of a security design that provides a visible deterrent, while at the same time creating a striking landscape.

“His really big move was to create circular perimeter ha-ha walls that fall away from the building to prevent cars from even approaching the monument, and doing it in the most simple and unobtrusive way possible,” Droge says. She also notes that the Washington Monument design—which originally had a below-grade entranceway to funnel visitors into the site—is the result of compromise, another hallmark of good security design.

Assessment, not reaction
“The worst security design is that which only reacts to what has happened in the past,” Droge contends, adding that the best way to avoid this is to assess the threat to the site. She says that landscape architects should talk to clients and understand their concerns—which are always legitimate but can be reactionary—and urge them to incorporate an appropriate security design. “Don’t apply a one-size-fits-all design,” she says. “Design to the threat, rather than what’s happened in the past.”

She also notes that landscape architects must be upfront with their clients about the limits of any security design and stress that no matter how prepared they may be, terrorists can still infiltrate a site. “The thing to remember here is that there is no 100 percent guarantee for providing security,” she says. “If people are willing to die for their cause and have a well-thought-out plan, there is a very good chance they will succeed. Landscape architects need to explain this to their client, understand their client’s fears, and implement security measures appropriate to the site.”

Finally, Droge notes that security design is an ever-evolving field, with many of the best security designs—like Olin’s Washington Monument design—just beginning to take shape. “I really hope people who read the book will take a look at the epilogue, because some of the most exciting designs and innovations are coming out now, and that’s where we touch on these things.”

*Droge's degree in landscape architecture was inadvertently omitted from this article when it was originally posted.

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