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The solution is to design out crimeTRANSCRIPT
DESIGN AGAINST CRIME
“The solution is to design out crime. By doing so, you reduce thevolume of crimes that are committed. Prevention is really theonly hope. And I think it’s important to get designers switchedonto that wavelength, to believe in what is required.”
It might seem a little odd at first glance to seethe word ‘design’ in the same sentence as‘crime’. And it might be hard to believe thatdesign can really be effective in the tough,violent world of the criminal. After all, isn’tdesign about making things pretty, and crimeabout smashing things up? Isn’t designsuperficial, and crime fundamental? Isn’tdesign about arty creativity, and crime aboutbasic greed? Isn’t design about pleasure, andcrime about pain?
But as the pen is mightier than the sword, so is design mightier than crime. Because if youdesign something to be crime proof, then thecrime can’t happen.
(Oh really? So we’re going to let a bunch ofdesigners loose in the criminal world and allthe baddies will run away? Good one!)
What are the arguments against lettingdesigners loose in the criminal world? Well,first and foremost, some would argue, designersare expensive. True, they often are. But asyou’ll see from the enclosed case studies, timeand time again the investment up front payshuge dividends in reduced criminal activityfurther down the road. And that makes themcheap. And, as you’ll also see, their creativitycan often generate inexpensive solutions toseemingly insurmountable problems.
And anyway, why shouldn’t the fight againstcrime be pretty! These case studies showthat you don’t have to have housescovered in ugly locks and window bars tomake them secure, that you don’t haveto have clamps on your car stereo, publicseating made out of hard cold steel,schools built like prison camps. Securitydoesn’t have to be hard, it can be softand easy. And it will still work and saveyou hassle, time and money.
But what do designers know about crime? Fair point. In many cases, the answer is ‘not a lot’, and that’s what these case studies areall about. They aim to show a wide range ofpeople how to make products as crime-proof aspossible. Those people might be in business, indesign, in education, or in government.
But one thing the designers featured here haveclearly learnt is that most crime pivots onopportunity. The case studies show it overand over again. Crime happens becausethe opportunity is there to commit it,and judging by rising crime rates, peopleare increasingly inclined to take thatopportunity. Take the opportunity away,and, in large part, the impulse to commitcrime will go away too – maybe not for thehardened criminal, but it will for the thousandsof casual criminals.
How do you take it away? You design it out.Greg Lawrence, Environmental Criminologistfor Tesco, makes an important point:“Prevention is better than cure”. Who wouldhave believed that old cliché was such apolitical hot potato? Many people still call formore police and tougher sentencing but thefact is that only 3% of crimes ever get as faras court and each prison place costs over£20,000 a year.
As Greg points out, “the solution is to designout crime. By doing so, you reduce the volumeof crimes that are committed. You’ll probablycatch the same number of people – but at leastthey’ll represent a much higher proportion of allthe people responsible for crime. Prevention isreally the only hope. And I think it’s importantto get designers switched onto that wavelength,to believe in what is required.”
This collection of case studies featurescommercial and public projects that haveeffectively designed out crime. They rangefrom a car stereo theft protection system todrinking glasses that have reduced violentattacks. From secure houses to secure shops.They all contain lessons for everyone. And themain lesson is this: get designers, builders and manufacturers to understand that crimecan be defeated by design, and we’ll live in asafer, freer, more civilised society.
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stay shoppers as well as people who want topark overnight. You pick up your ticket as pernormal, and then find a free parking bay. Thebay has a big number on it. On your way out,you pass the Bay Controller machine. You putyour ticket through it, and it activates the sensorunder your car. This is a device that keeps aneye on the undersurface of the car and detectsany movement above a preset level. If someoneis kicking the car, or trying to break into it, thealarm goes off. When you come back to thecar park, you put your ticket in the Pay on Footmachine, and the sensor is switched off.
“The CCTV system is comprehensive, and so isthe PA. If we see a bunch of lads drive in weknow to watch for them later. Sometimes theycome back a bit drunk. We watch them, say, go up to level five, where they think no-one’swatching them and then they might startlarking about. Play fighting. The sort ofbehaviour that’s fine by itself but can makethem all a bit leery. If it looks like getting outof hand, we bollock them! We say, over ourvery loud PA: “OK boys, settle down, get in your car, and LEAVE.” And the amazing thingis, they always do.”
With panic buttons set at every five metres,190 CCTV cameras in a typical installation, carexits controlled by attractively designed doorsto prevent casual pedestrian access, automaticcontrol of exits to prevent escape by criminals,reduced entrances and exits, all monitored,suddenly the car park is becoming one of thesafest places in town.
“We used to have a problem of peopleurinating in the stairwells. Of drug abuse in allthe dark corners. Of tramps and prostitutes. The year before we moved in to the Derby carpark, there were 171 reported crimes in the carpark. And the police told me that for everycrime reported, there were on average threethat hadn’t been. The car park was being usedless and less. The council had redecorated it,installed 16 CCTV cameras and employed apatrolling officer. This reduced crime a little forabout six months, but it soon came back.
“Now, in four years of operation therehasn’t been a single incident. No crimeat all! No graffiti, no theft, no breakage.Nothing. We’re getting 400 cars a nighton the weekends. Which is prettyamazing really, because you have to payto come in here. People are prepared topay for security. All the surroundingparks, most closer to the city centrethan us, are free.
“We offer the car user a guarantee. If their cargets damaged here, we’ll pay for it. Though Ido actually video scan the cars on the way into make sure I’m not going to be caught with a fraudulent claim! Now more and more middle-aged and elderly couples use the car park atnight – and women on their own. Becausethey feel safe. Usage was 10% up on last year.That’s unknown in this business – especiallywith no new stores opening up around us.
“It was hard to get this project off the ground.I did most of it off my own bat. I put a lot of
money into it to develop the system, and builtit up on paper over a couple of years. I thought:‘This will be easy to market.’ I seriously didn’tthink I’d have a problem, I was so convinced itwould be such a good idea. So once I’d createdthe design and prototype sensor, I took it roundvarious bodies and businesses. All for nothing.Until I came full circle back to Derby wheresomeone in the city council had the balls tosay: ‘Let’s try it!’ Then we were able to getprivate investors and banks to raise half amillion. It’s a long-term project. There’s no realreturn yet. It’ll be ten years before we see anyserious profit, but it’s definitely going to beworth it in the long run. We’ve got a new oneopening in Lancaster in October 2001.”
There are a few people who are critical ofParksafe, saying that it is ‘over the top’, yetcrime has been reduced to zero and feedbackfrom customers is extremely positive. Indeed,an independent survey showed that 97% feltsafe in the car park and 100% that theirvehicle and its contents were secure. Nearlyeveryone that parked there felt that paying anextra 20p per hour was worth it and/or goodvalue for money.
Ken also plans to sell the detector system toprivate owners who park their cars indriveways. That’s nearly 14 million potentialnew customers...
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There are a few people who are critical of Parksafe, saying thatit is ‘over the top’, yet crime has been reduced to zero andfeedback from customers is extremely positive. Indeed, anindependent survey showed that 97% felt safe in the car parkand 100% that their vehicle and its contents were secure.
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HUNKY-DORY MULTISTOREY HOW ONE MAN’S INNOVATIONTRANSFORMED A CRIME-RIDDENCAR PARK
Ken Wigley, inventorand chairman ofParksafe Systems
www.designcouncil.org.uk
You come home from a trip abroad. You walkto your car in the multistorey airport car park.You don’t see it at first, though you spot asimilar car with smashed windscreen and thedashboard all ripped about. Then it dawns onyou. That IS your car! You rush to theattendant’s office. You say: “My car’s beenvandalised while I was away.” The attendantlooks at you, a bored expression on his face.“See that sign mate?” he says, indicating, witha slight raising of his eyebrows, a sign overyour shoulder: “It says: ‘All vehicles left here attheir owner’s risk.’” End of conversation.
You’ve been out in town for a drink with somemates. You’re walking back through a dark carpark alone. Strange people are about. Youhurry. When you approach your car you see itis surrounded by a gang of youths. Empty tinsof lager are lying crushed on the concrete
floor. There’s a banging noise. Then, as you getcloser, you see what’s happening. They arekicking your car. You stop. “This your car?” theyask, as they continue to kick the door panels.End of conversation.
These incidents happen in car parks aroundthe UK every day. In fact the first incidentabove happened to Ken Wigley, around 12years ago. He was so furious with theattendant’s ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude, that hedecided to do something about it – somethingdramatic and constructive.
He invented Parksafe.
Ken Wigley is now chairman of ParksafeSystems Ltd: “I’m an agricultural engineer. Ihad recently developed a sensor system for aforage harvester, a metal movement detector.If it spotted a horseshoe or even a beer can, it
would automatically shut the machine downbefore the metal wrecked it.
“Parking is pretty boring stuff, but themore you get into it, the more intriguingit becomes. I was thinking: ‘How couldthe attendant have prevented whathappened to my car? If he couldn’t see orhear it happening, then how could heknow?’ So I thought: invent a sensor thatcan do his job for him. One that can tellif the car is being moved by people whoshouldn’t be moving it. And so I did.”
Not only did Ken invent a sensor, he designeda whole secure car park system. “What happensif you drive into a Parksafe car park, say the24-hour multistorey on Bold Lane, near theshopping centre in Derby? It’s got 440 parkingbays, covering ten floors. It’s designed for short-
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Anti-theft designs began outselling the unalarmed versions, andthe market volume for the thief-proof bags increased by 10%.
pressure from a knife. But the big question was– where should it be placed? Firstly, theydecided to test it in a stylish leather bag,chosen because it was a popular bag – bothwith the public and the bag-rippers. Then thecompany researched the incision methods usedby bag-rippers, and, after customer feedback onearly models, eventually came up with alocation for the sensor, actually within theleather itself.
Again, after listening to retail feedback onprototypes, they put the alarm into a smallpouch – which prevented it from fallingout after the thief had made his cut, andalso helped prevent damage to its delicatewiring. The company also decided to usethicker leather, to make slashing moredifficult. And, on this particular bag, thezipper was moved to make it harder forthieves to access. They also introduced a
wire into the shoulder strap to make itfar harder for thieves to slash the strapand pull the bag away.
Much crime prevention works by telling thecriminal that there’s no point trying. Forexample, the missing faceplate on a car stereosystem says: “Don’t break into this car, becausethe stereo is worthless to you.” Large alarmsystems on the side of the building say: “Don’tbother trying to burgle us – you’ll wake up thewhole neighborhood and the cops will be herein seconds.” So Esquire added tags to the bagscarrying an instantly recognisable logo thattold pickpockets they were wasting their time.
Marketing the bag proved problematic at first.One company representative said: “It is verydifficult to transform a technical product into afashion item, if only because fashions changeseasonally. We found we had to play down the
technical side of it, or we risked damaging ourbrand. So we talked less about anti-theftdevices, and more about fashion and safety.”
Esquire was nervous about potential failure,and they decided to convert only 5% of theirproduction to include anti-theft technology. But they need not have feared. Anti-theftdesigns began outselling the unalarmedversions, and the market volume for the thief-proof bags increased by 10%. Soon the bagwas picking up awards, and their technologypartner, CNE Tech, was beginning to marketthe product in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. As Myoung-Soo Lee, a manager in themarketing department said: “We made 15,000 pieces and we sold 90%. This is asuccess story.”
IN THE BAGHOW A KOREAN FASHION COMPANYPUT OFF PICKPOCKETS
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www.designcouncil.org.uk
“Once a target is selected, a thief is able to steal a walletwithin three seconds. It is elementary for a novice to performbag-plucking, especially with the recent fashion in Seoul forlong shoulder straps, which puts the bag along the waistline.”
Put yourself, for a moment, in the mind of acriminal. You’re in a London tube station in therush hour at the end of a working day. You arehunting for your victim, a woman who looksboth busy and distracted. And, as Lady Luckwould have it, there she is, coming right towardsyou. Smart, wearing expensive clothes andcarrying a light leather bag all zipped up buthanging on a long shoulder strap. She’s clearlygot a bob or two. She’s moving fast. It’s lookslike she’s late, worried, perhaps, about missinga train connection. There, look, she is pushingthrough the crowd. Her shoulder bag is caught.Without looking, she pulls it after her. Perfect.
You pick the scalpel from your pocket, and slipoff its protective sheath. She passes you. You move in behind her as the crowd funnelstowards the escalators. You’ll have to movequickly now, and your heart is beating fast.You’re just behind her, her black shoulder bag a few inches from you. People are crushing up
against each other. Everyone’s in a hurry to gethome. You bunch up behind her and silentlyrun the scalpel through the side of her bag, allthe time looking at the back of her head. You have only two seconds left before she’s onthe escalator. You slide your hand in, huntingfor the fat purse. With practised fingers youfind it and pull it out. She turns, but she’salready on the escalator. She’s looking down at the bag, but you are already moving in theopposite direction as she sinks down with thecrowd. The last sight you have of her is hersuspicious face – but you know she hasn’tclocked you and she probably isn’t even surewhat’s happened. Yet. Nice one.
Well, it happens every day. But wouldn’t it havebeen good from her point of view if an alarmhad gone off just as soon as the thief’s bladehad started the cut? Wouldn’t it have beengreat if the blade itself couldn’t get throughthe leather? In Korea they’ve been developing
fashionable bags that do both. The movefollows extensive research by Koreancriminology and police agencies into pick-pocketing, or what they call the ‘ground strike’.
Youn-Soo Oh is an investigator with the SeoulMetropolitan Police Agency: “There are two maintypes of ground-strike. The first is ‘Bag-pluck’ – opening the bag by the button or zipper tosteal a wallet. The second is ‘Bag-rip’ – swiftlycutting the bag with a knife. Once a target isselected, a thief is able to steal a wallet withinthree seconds. It is elementary for a novice toperform bag-plucking, especially with therecent fashion in Seoul for long shoulder straps,which puts the bag along the waistline.
“When fashions changed in 1997, and theshoulder straps became shorter, bringing thebag further up the body, ground strike levelssuddenly declined. Only the ‘bag-rip’ methodcan be used with bags that hang just under
the arm. To execute such technique, aperpetrator must be an experienced pick-pocket. They would have to have at least three to four years’ experience in the field.”
Korean research shows that criminalslook for certain types of bags. Vinyl orlight leather are most vulnerable, becausethey are easy to slash. Long straps thatdrop the bag down to the waistline makean easy target for thieves. Big bags areeasier to get into than small ones.
Esquire Collection, makers of fashionaccessories, and CNE Tech, who producepatented alarm sensors, have been workingtogether, using information like this, toproduce the world’s first anti-theft handbag.The plan was to use an alarm system, whichwould be set off when a separate sensor,connected to the alarm by wires, wasstimulated. The sensor was designed to react to
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“Parks are one of the last non-privatised spaces where youractivities are not proscribed by the owners. You’ve got to treatthat seriously. It’s very important to people.”
Adults like parks to be like big landscapegardens, children like lots of bright colours andplayful stuff, and teenagers want somethingmore provocative than a garden and not as‘babyish’ as bright colours. And the girlswanted something different to the boys.Nightmare. But we eventually hit on a winningtheme – swimming and surfing.”
“We created a ‘swimming pool’ out of vandal-proof resin-bonded glass that was colouredblue through to green. It’s beautiful to look at. We built two long benches out of toughlaminated timber which look like surf or divingboards. And we brought in a boat builder fromBristol to create a ship-shaped rain canopy. Itcreated a sense of beach fun, relaxation andcolour that everyone enjoys. We also createdplay areas for children, including an exciting
‘treasure island’ near the school, complete withdunes, shipwrecks and ‘monsters’. Dogs arekept out by the doggie equivalent of a cattlegrid. The kids love it and use it regularly.It’s a great place to be on a summer’sday – or night. And they care about it.There’s been no vandalism.
“Next to the existing Proctor’s Youth Centre, wecreated an area designed specifically for sportscoaches to train a whole team. It is a circulararea, next to the football pitch, just five metresacross so the coach can see the entire team.We have a skateboard area too, of course, withhalf pipes and jumps.
“I’m very proud of this place. The ManchesterMardi Gras is going to start from here. AndRolls Royce are going to use it for a vintage
car rally – well, the park is built on the site ofthe first Rolls Royce factory where they madethe Silver Ghost. Parks are one of the last non-privatised spaces where your activities are notproscribed by the owners. You’ve got to treatthat seriously. It’s very important to people.”
The park has been relatively free from crimeand was described by a local police officer as“a triumph of design”.
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PARK LIFEHOW A CRIME HOT SPOT WASTRANSFORMED INTO THE PERFECT PARK
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www.designcouncil.org.uk
Parks do make a difference in a city centre.They are a vital relief from the claustrophobiaof terraced high-rise life. They are havens offreedom and peace in the heart of constrictionand clamour, they are oases of vibrant naturalcolour against a desert of pavement andconcrete grey. They are balm to the mind andto the soul.
Which is all very pretty. But they are also greatplaces to score drugs, mug passers-by, swapstolen goods and bully children. They’re a boonto vandals, because people have to cross large,open spaces to stop you spray-painting thewall, breaking the swings, etc. There’s plenty ofroom to leg it.
The transformation of Hulme, one mile fromManchester city centre, is fast becoming alegend in civic renaissance. The area was
notorious for muggings, burglary, robbery andpoor housing. As life there deteriorated duringthe 80s into a kind of living hell, it was decidedthat something had to be done. The local counciland its partners secured substantial EC fundingand began planning a total reconstruction ofthe area. The £2.2 million project to create anew park at its heart fell to Neil Swanson, thePractice Principal of Landscape Projects.
Neil Swanson: “It was a visionary project.Nothing like it had happened in Manchester for50 years. We were being given the opportunityto build a park from scratch, to think: ‘Whatshould a park be?’” The brief was to design asafe and attractive park in the city centre thatcould be used by a range of different groups.In short they wanted a park that was awonderful place to be, rather than a dangerous
place to be. But how was it possible to makethe park open and welcoming, and yet secure?The answer lay in the creation, not of physical,but of psychological barriers.
The first technique was size. The park was nevermore than 70 metres wide at any point. NeilSwanson: “A park should not be too deep,as this makes people feel uneasy. We canpick out figures at a distance of 70 metres,recognising age, gender, even perhapsfacial expression. You can recognisepeople and, perhaps subconsciously, oneis aware of not being anonymous.”
The second technique was surveillance. It wasagreed that new housing would be built facingon to the park, partly to give residents a goodview, and partly to increase the sense ofsecurity. Landscape Projects were happy to keep
the road running through the middle of thepark, and encouraged parking around theperimeter to increase the sense of busynessand watchfulness. For safety reasons the roadneeded to be fenced on both sides.
The type of fencing became a contentiousissue. Neil: “You have to think of how it’s goingto be abused. You have to be able to repair asmall area, without needing to change the wholelot.” Neil opted for a low brick wall, toppedwith black, horizontal steel railings built inremovable sections. “You can see throughhorizontal railings much more easily thanvertical ones. There used to be ‘sod off’ railingshere. But this park is about welcome andinclusiveness. The council were concerned thatchildren would hurt themselves if they sat on(and then fell off) the top horizontal bar, so we
set it at an angle. They can climb the railings,but it is uncomfortable to sit on the top one.So they don’t do it.”
Landscape Projects prevented cars fromentering the park with attractive stainless steelbollards. They cut small water-recycling trencheswhich also serve to stop bikers riding at highspeed across the park. The firm developed avery open-plan style with pathways and roadsconnecting the park to other parts of the city.They wanted people to use it and so contributeto the sense of security and passive surveillance.Neil: “The more people about, the less is yourfear of crime. You feel safe with people about.”
For Neil, it was vital that the park servedall ages, especially children andteenagers. “It was important that wecould create a space for young people to
hang out.” But who was he to say howtheir part of the park should be? “I felt itwas vital that I got alongside the people whowere going to use the park so we could designit specifically for them.” So he set up a seriesof meetings with young people from the area.“The teenage group was extremely boisterousand enthusiastic. But it soon became apparentthat the boys wanted loads of machoequipment in the park, and the girls reallyweren’t that bothered. So I tried bringing anartist in to work with mosaics and to see if hecould capture their imagination. Frankly it wasgoing nowhere and this whole part of theproject began to look a bit sad. We had torethink.
“We realised that there was a big difference inthe three age groups we were catering for.
The transformation of Hulme, one mile from Manchester cityCentre, is fast becoming a legend in civic renaissance. The areawas notorious for muggings, burglary, robbery and poorhousing. As life there deteriorated during the 80s into a kind of living hell, it was decided that Something Had To Be Done.
Children’s play areaAn open-plan style waschosen, with pathways androads connecting the park toother parts of the city toencourage people to use itand increase passivesurveillance
Horizontal railings werechosen to maintain visibilty
Sheltered seating designedto ensure good surveillance
Without the basket to pile your mates into for a lark abouttown or to turn upside down and cook your burgers on, youhave nothing but a tall narrow frame on wheels. You can’t carryanything in it – it’s of no practical use at all.
to steal, and a cart with its own scanner tocheck prices. We voted for the ‘cool’ ideasalthough they couldn’t be too far-out becausethey had to be buildable in a couple of days.We split into four smaller groups that wouldhave three hours to build mock-ups, each teamfocusing on a separate concern – shopping,safety and stealability, checkout and findingwhat you’re looking for. By 3pm 16 of us werejammed into the IDEO workshop along withthe dozen machinists and model makers whowork there every day.”
The following morning they revealed the end-product for the cameras. “The old boxy cart weall know and hate had been replaced by asleek, gleaming creation. The main framesloped down on each side into a curve thattucked back, with more of a sports car line. The main basket was gone and in its place wasan open frame – designed so that six [plastic]
hand baskets would neatly nest inside in twolayers, allowing shoppers to dart down thesupermarket aisles and avoiding the clusteringof trolleys round a popular shelf. At checkout,clerks would pack the groceries in plastic bagsthat neatly hook onto the frame.”
The finished cart featured a scanner, and(inevitably) included two cup holders for hot andcold drinks on the move. It had a baby seatwith a snap-in safety bar with a blue plasticplay surface. It featured a tubular frame beneaththe baskets for carrying items such as big packsof toilet roll or nappies. It also had back wheelsthat allowed you to lock them in forward positionwith a simple tug. And the racked baskets stopyour shopping from getting squashed.
The IDEO trolley has another big plus – its security features actually enhance itsfunctionality. It is a better product because
the removable baskets make life easier for theshopper, both through protecting goods fromcrushing and helping alleviate aislecongestion. How do these features make thetrolley more secure? Because they replace thebig wire basket, which gives the trolley itsthief-appeal. Without the basket to pile yourmates into for a lark about town or to turnupside down and cook your burgers on, youhave nothing but a tall narrow frame onwheels. You can’t carry anything in it – it’s ofno practical use at all.
Peter Skillman of IDEO says: “Enlightened trialand error succeeds over the planning of thelone genius.” Well, perhaps not always. But in this case it certainly produced greatresults very fast.
Quotations taken from Kelly, Tom, The Art of Innovation,
Currency, Doubleday, New York, 2001
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“Nearly two million trolleys are stolen in the US every year,costing consumers (ultimately) $175,000,000 annually.”
still get stolen. Some people thinkthey’re worth a quid (have you seen theprice of barbecue grills?).
Now the Americans have come up with abetter way, in fact, a wonderful idea all roundfor a shopping trolley.
The American design company, IDEO, wereasked by ABC’s Nightline programme toredesign the shopping ‘cart’ (as the Americanscall it) in just five days. What’s fascinatingabout this tale is not only the fact that in the
end they generated a trolley that solved crimeand safety issues, but also the journey. The process of how they generated the ideahas lessons for everyone interested indesigning out crime. It’s known at IDEO as‘focused chaos’.
Tom Kelly is IDEO’s general manager: “Theshopping cart was an ideal and imposingchallenge. The cart is an American culturalicon, as familiar as the Zippo lighter, and justas equally frozen in time. On day one, we split
into groups to immerse ourselves in the stateof grocery shopping, shopping carts, and anyand all possibly relevant technologies. We weregetting out of the office, cornering the experts,and observing the natives in their habitat.Team members saw safety issues and watchedparents struggle with small children.
“By 11am (day two) the focused chaos startedwinding down, hundreds of crazy ideas andsketches crowded the walls, as well as plenty ofsolid ones, like a cart that nobody would want
Have you ever cooked a sausage on a shoppingtrolley? Not one you’ve nicked from asupermarket, of course, but one you foundabandoned down the road. You know the one– it had been sitting on wasteland for months.You haven’t? Oh well, people do, because the wire frames make great barbecue grills...
Now this is a story all about preventing crime,and here we are, apparently proposing acriminal use for stolen goods. We’re not ofcourse, we’re pointing out a problem. Shopping
trolleys get stolen, all over the UK and theUnited States. In fact, nearly two milliontrolleys are stolen in the US every year, costingconsumers (ultimately) $175,000,000annually. More than 22,000 people a year,most of them children, have to go to hospitalbecause of shopping trolley-related accidents.Here the problem is being discouragedby forcing people to pay a £1 depositbefore taking a trolley. Which can bepretty inconvenient, if you don’t have a£1 coin on you. And anyway, trolleys do
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“Perimeter wall? What perimeter wall? It’s one of the few schoolsin the land without one. It’s just a collection of buildings in abeautiful park.”
Isn’t all this extremely expensive? “Not at all,”says James Jones. “We’ve applied theseprinciples before to office buildings andcommercial property where security issues areparamount. It’s tried and tested, so it’s notexpensive.”
But what about bullying? How can the designhave helped stop that? “It’s all a question oflayout,” says James. “There’s only one centralmingling place, there are no dark corners, noareas that cannot be controlled. Stairwells areoften a problem spot in schools, so we’vemade the stairs as transparent as possible andalso positioned the offices for the head of yearor head of department next to the stairwells. It’s part of their role to control those areas.”And following discussions with the pupils, theschool has introduced CCTV at head height in the toilets to further discourage bullying.Lockers too, are not in a ‘locker room’ but
along open corridors. This makes them far lesslikely to be broken into.
But surely with CCTV cameras at every corner,and senior staff watching every trouble spot,isn’t it a bit intimidating? When you walk upto the perimeter wall of Parrs Wood School,doesn’t it feel like you are about to enter afortress? James Jones smiles as he unveils thepièce de résistance: “Perimeter wall? Whatperimeter wall? It’s one of the few schools inthe land without one. It’s just a collection ofbuildings in a beautiful park.”
The anti-crime design philosophy is perhapsbest summed up in the words of DavidCullearn: “Buildings have to respect people,then people respect them”.
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COOL SCHOOLHOW A WELL-DESIGNED SCHOOL RULED OUT BULLYING, BURGLARY AND VANDALISM
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Lockers are not in a lockerroom but along open corridorswhere they are far less likelyto be broken into
“Security is unobtrusive. We’ve dramatically reduced thenumbers of entrances and exits and introduced fire exits thatcan only be opened from the inside, as well as CCTV. We’vetaken away the opportunity for crime.”
How good is design? Can it confront reallytough problems? Could design, for example, be used to combat the dreadful problem ofbullying at school? At Parrs Wood school inDidsbury, Manchester, it has done just that –and much more.
Edmund Kirby Architects were brought in tobuild an entirely new school on existing schoolland. When the school was finished, the staffand students moved in and the old school wasdemolished. But how was it different to the old school?
James Jones was one of the architects: “The general organisation of the originalschool was a great rambling collection ofdifferent buildings – with corridors allover the place leading everywhere, andexternal doors on every part of theschool. It was a security nightmare.”
The headmaster, Iain Hall, agrees: “The oldschool was prefabricated and had 21 entrancesand exits. Most of them could be easily kickedin. Kids were even coming in through theskylights. We had a lot of burglary and a lot ofvandalism. We had to find a solution. So westarted working with Edmund Kirby Architects.It was a long gestation period for this school.We literally walked the plans. What would thisdoor do – how would people move from hereto here. The architects were very good, but thatmutual consultation was vital.”
James Jones: “Firstly, we decided to rearrangethe main teaching block of the school along acentral avenue – a mall. This is where most ofthe lessons happen. The main entrance to theschool is here. Whether you are staff, student or visitor, you have to pass through a centralreception in the mall. The mall conducts a long curve that ends with a great view of the
Mersey valley. When you come out of that you are standing in an external space thatfeatures four elements: the teaching block that you’ve just left, the sixth form centre, the new sports hall and the ancient ParrsWood House (set to become the school’s music and drama department). Three of theblocks are modern buildings, but they havebeen designed, with the approval of EnglishHeritage, to balance the old Parrs Woodbuilding.
“The old house and its grounds, Parrs WoodPark, was an important influence on thedesign. There was an opportunity here to create an unusual school environment, morelike a university campus than a traditionalschool, which we thought would be much more conducive to learning and respect. We made good use of the landscaped beautyof Parrs Wood Park.
“Security is unobtrusive. We’ve dramaticallyreduced the numbers of entrances and exitsand introduced fire exits that can only beopened from the inside, as well as CCTV. We’ve taken away the opportunity for crime.
“It’s a very pleasant place. It feels welcomingand easy to navigate. The main entrance clearlyleads to the four parts of the school. And thenthere’s woodland and recreation areas.”
Edmund Kirby architect David Cullearn: “Youdon’t get lost. This is important when puttingtogether a building. It should have its ownnatural route. You can feel where you are – it’snot a maze. In fire terms that is also important.If you have public routes, then you can takevisitors around. There is the concept of ‘aroute’, which is an added feature. If you knowwhere you are, you feel secure and know thatothers cannot be hiding in nooks and crannies.”
Headmaster Iain Hall: “The new school hasnow been open for 18 months. We’ve not had a single break-in. I put this down to severalfactors; for example, the CCTV coverage ismonitored 24 hours a day, and we have anexcellent relationship with the security peopleat the nearby leisure centre (which has beenbuilt on old school land as a means of raisingfunding for the changes). We’re now on theirperimeter watch. The school is used far morethan it used to be, about 18 hours a day. It’salmost constantly in use.
“Also, the place looks and feels so muchbetter. The corridors are carpeted andlight floods into the core of the buildingfrom high windows. The landscape withinthe school area offers no concealment.We worked very carefully on that. And thealarm system is excellent. I say that, but ithasn’t actually gone off yet...”
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“The first thing I was keen on was a barrel roof. They’re almostimpossible to climb on and they shed water very efficiently. Andbarrel roofs look good!”
It was time for a change. So Richard and hisfive staff called in the bus shelter manufacturersto see if they could improve the bus traveller’slot. Abacus came back to SYPTE and said:“We’re offering you a clean sheet of paper. We can build anything you want.”
Richard Bowen: “The first thing I was keen onwas a barrel roof. They’re almost impossible toclimb on and they shed water very efficiently.And barrel roofs look good! What I also likeabout the barrel roof is that it does away withthe need for a ‘flag’ sticking out – often atarget for vandals. The bus stop locationinformation is put on the end panel instead of sticking out of the roof.
“And glass, I wanted a lot of safely securedglass. Glass from top to bottom. Lots of light.People queuing for buses feelcomfortable if they can be seen – theyfeel safer and also feel there’s morechance the bus might actually stop forthem. I mean, as my operations manager said,‘See and be seen’. You can’t see the busthrough a brick wall, can you? Glass wouldincrease patronage. I didn’t want a mid-rail in
the glass either. I wanted total transparency. I also wanted it to be easy to maintain andrepair. I wanted them to feature clear easy-to-read information panels. I wanted them to bereasonably priced. And I wanted people to beproud of them. We worked very hard togetherto get the right result.
“I’m very proud of these shelters. We’ve neverhad a serious crime in any of them. That’s amassive change. Of course we get someproblems. Because they’re dry, clean andilluminated, you get groups of kids sitting and chatting in them until late at night. Well that can be a problem outside someone’shouse, and these impromptu youth clubs can put other people off using the shelters. So now the lights go off after the last bus. Yes, unlike the old ones, they’re illuminated.And we’ve changed the seating. Abacus’s‘perch’ seating allows you to rest briefly withyour shopping but does not encourage you to sit around chatting.
“People’s expectations are high now. We cleanthe new shelters every week, and we promise afour-hour response time to any reports of
damage. Before, the shelters would getcoated in graffiti and we’d never hear adickey bird. Now if one of the sheltersdoesn’t get cleaned one week, folk areon the phone straight away!
“We’re still improving them. We’re using UV-stabilized polycarbonate in the roof panelsinstead of glass. And we’ve speeded upmaintenance checks on the lighting. Instead of getting an electrician down to take the cover off the fuse box, the cleaners can pass aspecially configured magnet over a concealedswitch and turn them on and off, testing forlighting failures. Then they can report themstraight away.
“Good ideas catch on. Shelters like these areall over the country now. That makes me feelparticularly proud!”
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CRIME STOPPERSHOW AN INNOVATIVE DESIGN TEAMMADE BUS USERS FEEL SAFER
Richard Bowen has a thing about bus shelters.They’ve possessed his professional mind for thelast decade, after four district councils took itupon themselves to transfer bus ownership tothe South Yorkshire Passenger TransportExecutive (SYPTE), for whom he is StreetInfrastructure Manager.
You might think from this introduction thatRichard is a bit of a train spotter. But in asense, the opposite is true. Because trainspotters spot trains. Er – that’s it. Their passionis entirely focused on satisfying their ownsense of order and mystery. Nothing wrong
with that, but Richard’s mission was quite theopposite – his mission was nothing less than to help make a better world. And through thatmission, and the work he did with the designersfrom Abacus, he solved a problem that hadbecome a serious social issue across the country.
The old bus shelters we all remember (andwhich happily are being gradually consignedto the landfill of history) were so often dreadfulplaces to wait. For a start, as often as not, theystank of urine. Drunk people used them astoilets. So it had to be raining really very hardbefore anyone would seek cover in them –
especially in the bunker-like brick ones. Andthen, where travellers were sufficientlydesperate for shelter, they would have to takecare where they stepped. Because in the brick-black darkness within lurked all manner ofhazards – hypodermic needles, detritus ofvarious orders, even muggers. So there arosea fashion in some quarters for semi-glazed bus shelters to make them lesseasy to hide in. But vandals took toswinging from the roof, kicking the glasspanels and smashing them to smithereens.And they had not been designed witheasy repair in mind.
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The old bus shelters we all remember were so oftendreadful places to wait
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“As users we want to be connected and equipped with tools forevery possible eventuality but don’t want to have to carry them.So, it seemed to make sense to start thinking about incorporat-ing technological devices into our clothes.”
beginning to carry around a growing numberof electronic products – mobile phones, palm-top computers, personal hi-fis. As users wewant to be connected and equipped with toolsfor every possible eventuality but don’t want tohave to carry them. So, it seemed to makesense to start thinking about incorporatingtechnological devices into our clothes.”
The idea of incorporating technology withinfabric is a designers’ dream. It means that they can use their full creativity to generatefashionable, attractive clothing that also hap-pens to be discreetly bristling with versatile technology. Jack Mama: “We did an experimental range for Levi’s – a grandexercise that put our stake in the ground and showed that we could really do what we had been predicting for years. It was partof the learning curve, getting down to the nitty gritty of production. The range sold outcompletely. I hear now it’s selling for threetimes the price on the internet.”
Next, Phillips Design started to think abouthow wearable technology could be used tomake people feel safer and this led to thedevelopment of a range of innovative high-tech clothing for kids.
Designed to give parents peace of mind,Phillips Design created a garment for kids thatuses fabric antennas, radio tagging and minia-ture remote cameras to pinpoint where they
are. To the children, the coat is first and fore-most a device that they can use to play excit-ing outdoor games.
Jack Mama: “We have devised a series of gamesin which physical characters with identity chipscan be attached to the respective garments.The child sees the character that representsanother child as a monster or animal on his or her screen. As the children move around,their ‘characters’ can be seen moving on thescreen too. The children play together andhave to think up scenarios to explain what is happening. The kids are active, instead ofbeing stuck in front of a TV screen. And thething is, back on the master screen at home,the parents can also monitor where their chil-dren are and what they are up to, providingsecurity and piece of mind. If something goesseriously wrong they can get help to them.”
The added reassurance that technologylike this might bring for parents is pow-erful and could even bring back to thecities a sense of childhood freedom thatis fast becoming forgotten in a worldincreasingly concerned about the threatto children from kidnappers and pae-dophiles.
It is still early days for this technology but itcertainly offers designers the potential todevelop a whole range of innovative, unobtru-sive products that will enhance people’s safety
and security as well as providing fun, enter-tainment and convenience. But as with muchnew technology, there are also ethical issueshere which will have to be confronted too.Technology like this has the potential tobecome a major invasion of privacy and in thewrong hands could seriously restrict personalfreedom. The challenge for future designers aswell as future legislators is to ensure baby’ssafety is not thrown out with Big Brother’sbathwater.
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CLEVER CLOTHESHOW THE CLOTHES OF TOMORROWCOULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
It has long been the dream of science fictionwriters that our clothes will be sentient,designed to react to threat and protect usfrom attack, able to call for help and provide ahoming signal for rescuers. Well, as ever in thisrapidly-changing world, science fiction is fastbecoming science fact.
Now it is becoming possible to create smartclothing that will protect people from morethan just the weather. Now it is possible toincorporate miniature technology in what we
wear that will let people know where we are,and, should we choose, show them what weare doing while we are doing it.
This technology offers the potential to providepeople with a new level of security. Imagine, forexample, clothing for women, with a built-inGPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system.In the event of an attack, the technologywould allow your coat or jeans not onlyto secretly call for help but also to iden-tify your location. For victims of stalk-
ing in particular – a crime that isthought to have affected almost a mil-lion people in the UK alone – this sort oftechnology could provide a dramaticimprovement to their quality of life.
Jack Mama, Creative Director of PhillipsDesign, Intelligent Fibres Division: “Work inthis area really began six years ago. The firstproduct concepts that we developed weredesigned largely to address the issue of porta-bility. We realised that people were
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“Before, the area was crime-ridden and no one wanted to livethere. Since the rebuild, crime has dropped away to almostnothing, and there’s been a growing demand from people want-ing to move in.”
different, attractive and secure house, flat andbungalow designs which could be put togetherin almost any combination of terraced or semi-detached groups.
Sefa Amesu: “The first move was to discuss theproposed changes with tenancy groups, thelocal housing office and local councillors. We ensured we had as much contact with localpeople as possible, especially in the conceptand planning stage. The involvement and co-operation of the whole community wasvital. We involved local schools. We offeredstudents tours of the site, teaching them aboutsite safety. We held regular meetings with theactive tenant participation groups. There was a sense of ownership from the outset.
“The next move was demolition. Some of thebuildings not in demand were knocked down.And then reconstruction. We introduced newroad layouts aimed at designing out crime.This was, to my mind, the most signifi-cant change. We created a network ofthrough roads, rather than cul-de-sacs,to ensure that criminals could not evadepolice cars by running through alleywaysand escaping down open alleys in deadend streets. Police andengineers also asked for traffic-calmingmethods to combat joy riders, and forwell-designed exterior lighting to reducefear of crime.”
The designers ensured all the houses were fit-ted with top-quality window locks, five-lever
door locks, front and back lighting, toughenedglass windows and burglar alarms. Safety chainsand spy holes were put in all the front doors so that tenants could check who was callingbefore they opened the door. Steel gates wereerected across alleyways to prevent criminalaccess to the rear of properties. Designing thesecurity in from the outset has many costadvantages, and avoided the ugliness that so often arises from retro-fitted measures, suchas heavy secondary gates and window grills.Security designed into a project at the plan-ning stage can also be discreet.
Sefa: “We avoided blind gables – all the semi-detached houses were given windows in thegable walls. Gable walls are usually the sidewalls of a house, which rise into the triangularend-frames of the roof. They often overlookalleys between properties. We wanted naturalsurveillance. To do that, we had to reduce thenumber of blind spots. More windows meanmore community surveillance.
“The impact of the changes has been dramatic.Before, the area was crime-ridden and no onewanted to live there. Since the rebuild, crimehas dropped away to almost nothing, andthere’s been a growing demand from peoplewanting to move in. Crime is not about thepeople who live in a place, it’s about the placein which they live. At Alexandra Park, the peo-ple haven’t changed – it’s the environment, theaccommodation, that has changed. And that has caused the crime rate to fall.”
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GREAT ESTATEHOW A NORTHERN GANGLAND BECAME A PEACEFUL HAVEN
“There was gang warfare in the Alexandra Parkarea of Manchester,” says Mosscare HousingAssociation Development Manager, SefaAmesu. “It was a no-go area. The place seemedalmost made for crime. Lots of secluded areas,dangerous walkways, poor lighting and a lackof clear definition between public and privatespace. Crime and drug dealing had becomerife. Police often found themselves involved inchases through this district.”
The inevitable result was desolation. Properties emptied, squatters moved in, drug-taking multiplied, crime climbed still further.
Not, you would have thought, a promising site for a housing development. But Mosscareformed a partnership with Manchester CityCouncil and local residents in a bid to do justthis. Mosscare already had a 30-year history of working in Moss Side, and had developed a powerful commitment to tenant involvement.The plan was to redesign the estate using theprinciples of Manchester’s ‘City DevelopmentGuide’ and ‘Secured By Design’ Standards asset out by Police Architectural Liaison Units.This partnership then formed a consortium of local associations called Homecare 2000.The Homecare housing plan comprised 18
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Inside, some of the apartments feature computer links to CCTVcameras in the car park that enable residents to check on thesecurity of their vehicles. The computer can also operate thecurtains and the lights, so residents can appear to be in when,in fact, they are out.
Britannia Mills, we made the access doors intothe central courtyard self-closing. A lot of ener-gy went into making them look right.
“Lighting is another vital security factor. Theinner courtyard had to be well lit, but we didn’twant it keeping the residents awake at night.So we created lights that shone downwards,away from the buildings, lighting the pathsand walkways, not their bedrooms. The lightshave been carefully designed, as with every-thing else in the courtyard. The trees are bare-trunked and the shrubbery is kept low, so itlooks good without providing hiding places.”
The car park is also secure. You enter and exitthrough electric doors operated by a hand-heldmagnetic fob. The car park is overlooked byapartments and well-lit, which provides an extrasense of security for the residents. Keys areaccounted for. If people move away, they areasked to return their fobs.
Inside, some of the apartments feature computerlinks to CCTV cameras in the car park thatenable residents to check on the security oftheir vehicles. The computer can also operatethe curtains and the lights, so residents canappear to be in when, in fact, they are out.
The system works automatically, using lightsensors to determine whether it is day or night.
The heavy, plain wooden doors to the apart-ments are stylish, yet secure and attractive. Thelarge windows, balconies and access walkwaysensure visibility and contribute towards thecommunity spirit, though there are shutters onthe ground floor windows to prevent burglary.The lift to the upper floors is transparent,improving the sense of security and visibility.
The focal courtyard backs onto a canal thatwas used to transport materials to and fromthe old cotton and saw mills. Its presence as anatural barrier adds to the sense of residentialsafety. “We took a novel approach to mak-ing the walls around the courtyard,” saysCraig. “We’ve all seen rendered breezeblock walls along canals, and franklythey are not very pretty. So we created amesh structure filled with pebbles. It’slow maintenance and looks great. Andeven if the graffiti kids attack it, you canhide their work by moving the pebbles,taking them out and cleaning them, orreplacing them altogether. Pebbles arepretty cheap!“There were a few teething problems. The main
electric door was initially key-operated, untilwe realised that vandals found it amusing tosnap things off inside the mechanism. So nowwe’ve replaced it with an electronic key fob, or,in the case of the courtyard, a swipe card.
“For me, the most impressive part of this devel-opment is the courtyard. Many developersmight have been tempted to use the space forcar parking or further housing. But we wantedthis oasis feel, this sense of tranquillity withinthe city. It’s a secure, private space for all theresidents to enjoy.”
Urban Splash has a policy of getting regularfeedback from the residents. This enables thecompany to continually improve lifestyleswhile collecting data which will mean moreeffective building in other construction proj-ects. Craig: “Because Britannia Mills looks sogood, vandalism hasn’t been an issue. In fact there have been no significant problemsthere. The feedback from residents has beenvery positive and it’s an indication of the suc-cess of the project that the value of their prop-erty has risen so dramatically.”
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The lift is transparent, improvingthe sense of security and visibility
The heavy, plain wooden doors arestylish and yet secure
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DES RESHOW HOUSES ON AN INDUSTRIALESTATE BECAME HOT PROPERTIES
As the government is pushed one way by theneed to find land for new housing, and theother way by the environmental lobby whowant to stop the development of greenfieldsites, there really is only one way to go – toland designated for industrial use, so-calledbrownfield.
But who wants to live on an industrial estate?The answer, bizarrely enough, thanks to thework of companies like the award-winningUrban Splash, is: “actually, quite a lot of peo-ple”. Which is a bit odd. Industrial estates areoften outside city centres, and while that isn’ta problem in itself (for plenty of estate hous-ing is also situated quite far out)
there’s a feeling that houses in such remote,unfrequented places could be a target for crim-inals, especially at night, after the workforce hasgone home.
Craig Owen worked for Urban Splash whilethey were conceiving and building the BritanniaMills apartment complex in Castlefield,Manchester. “When we first looked at thesite, the signs weren’t good. It was to bethe first residential building in what wasan area designated for light industry,and the potential for security problemswas significant. The area, on the fringeof the city centre, had a high risk ofcrime. We realised the only way we could
persuade people to live here was tomake them feel safe. We decided to tryand create an oasis in the industrial‘desert’ around.
“We wanted to make it secure, but we alsowanted to make it aesthetically pleasing.Anyone can build heavy gates and big blockwalls. This had to feel safe without looking like Stalag 14!”
Urban Splash’s approach to design has alwaysbeen people-centred: “We have learnt thatpeople don’t treat perimeter doors like theirown front doors,” says Craig. “They are likely toleave them open. So when it came to building >
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The MASK is certainly ingenious. When you turn off the carignition, the faceplate revolves to a standby position andremains there for a few seconds. At this point, you can easilyremove it and pop it in your bag. If you don’t do that, then itcontinues revolving until only a black panel is visible.
the MASK.” The MASK is certainly ingenious.When you turn off the car ignition, thefaceplate revolves to a standby position andremains there for a few seconds. At this point,you can easily remove it and pop it in your bag.If you don’t do that, then it continues revolvinguntil only a black panel is visible. Then you canget out the car and leave, and it still looks likeyou’ve taken the faceplate with you.
Ingenious, Mr Bond. But perhaps not cleverenough, for a sophisticated thief may learn torecognise the Kenwood black faceplate.
Oliver responds: “Well, there’s more securityinvolved than that. There’s a four-digit securitycode too. If you punch that in (say, the samecode as your credit card pin number) it meansa thief can’t use the unit even if he steals it.And of course, he won’t be able to tell easily ifhe’s looking at the faceplate after it’s been
taken away, or after it has rotated. And frankly,in the vast majority of cases, he’s not going tohang around squinting through the glasstrying to work it all out. He’s going to moveon. The Kenwood system offers too manypossible obstacles. A thief will go for aneasier target every time. Thieves may begamblers, but the chances of failure aretoo high with this unit.”
Not so fast, Mr Bond. This is a complex pieceof machinery. It’s bound to go wrong!Someone could get something stuck in themechanism and burn out the motor, and it’llwear out after a few hundred uses. In under ayear, probably. Or it’ll freeze up. Or melt!Something’s bound to go wrong.
It turns out it probably won’t. First, Kenwoodhave designed the clutch motor assembly toprevent motor burnout should a foreign object
such as a hand or a pencil interrupt therotation of the faceplate. Second, metal gearshave been used throughout the system toincrease durability. Third, Kenwood subjecttheir D Mask stereos to a 1,000-hour test ofcontinuous openings and closings to ensuremechanical integrity. And fourth, they use aspecial lubricant that won’t freeze or evaporatein weather extremes from Nevada to Alaska.
So, has it been successful? “Oh yes,” saysOliver, eyes shining brightly down thetransatlantic telephone line. “It’s the biggesthit we’ve ever had – our biggest selling carproduct. We’re now developing similartechnology for in-car videos. We want to beout front in this industry. Kenwood puts aheavy emphasis on innovative design. In the D Mask line we combine stealth and disablingtechnologies to give the consumer the bestchance of keeping what they’ve paid for.”
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FACE LIFTHOW A CLEVER INNOVATION ISCONNING CAR CRIMINALS
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The thief moves through the car park, watchingfor CCTV. He slips alongside a dark blue FordFocus and quickly peers in through the driver’swindow. Damn. They’ve taken the facing paneloff the stereo. He turns around to the car behindhim. In the Mercedes next door, he can see thestereo faceplate is still intact. Either the owner’sleft it in place, or the unit doesn’t feature aremovable control panel. He pulls the hammerfrom his inside pocket, and looks around him...
Ten minutes later the owner of the Ford Focusreturns to her car. Her feet crunch on brokenglass. She turns round and sees the Mercedes’
passenger window is smashed, the stereo gone.She unlocks her own door and climbs in. She slides in the key and turns on the engine.The naked faceplate of her Kenwood stereorevolves like the number plates on James Bond’sAston Martin. Now the stereo controls are allin view. She presses play and drives off to theopening beat of Sade’s Smooth Operator (Remix).
Is this the last word in car stereo security?Oliver Williams from Kenwood in Denver,Colorado: “The detachable face was a theftsolution, but only works if the face is removed.More often than not people are just too lazy to
remove it – or they just forget. Others neverlearn how to get the faceplate off.” That’s justtwo of the problems with detachable faceplates.
Pioneered by – er – Pioneer, the originalsystem allows you to press a button, pullthe control panel off the front of thestereo unit, and put it in your pocket. The stereo is valueless without a controlpanel, mainly because without it, itsimply doesn’t work. It’s a good idea. But frankly it’s also a bit of a pain. Who wants to carry around their carstereo control panel? It’s hardly a fashion
statement: “Oo, look at my faceplate – isn’t itneat?” (“Yeah, right – get a life!”). And it’s aninconvenient bit of kit to carry about whenyour pockets are already stuffed full of mobilephone, wallet and palm PC. And then, ofcourse, the inevitable happens. You leave it ina cab. Or it falls out of your pocket and goesdown the toilet. You lose it, in short, andthere’s little more infuriating and inconvenientthan having an expensive car stereo and nomeans of switching it on.
“So our Japanese designers started working ona better solution,” says Oliver. “And that was
“Thieves use the store as a through route. It’s typical that apractised shoplifter will walk through the store, pick up the stuffhe wants to nick, put it in a trolley, walk straight to the fire exit,unload the trolley’s contents into a waiting car, and be off.”
“I’ve used the same approach in the car park.First of all, where possible, we block off shortcuts through the car park. We make it into acul-de-sac. We narrow the entrances and exits,creating a sort of chicane, and create a one-way circuit. In one case we’ve cut drive-offsfrom 400 a week to under 50. We make themotorists approach the exit at right angles. This is a good safety device. It slows themdown and prevents quick getaways. And wehave one-way drive-over plates – the sort ofdevice that will damage your tyres if you go the wrong way. We have CCTV and electronichelp points clearly visible across the car park.It’s clear from the road outside to potentialcriminals that it’s hard to get away with crimein here, and hard to get out at high speed.
“Stand outside the average car park andwatch people’s behaviour. You can seethe speech bubbles: ‘Where on earth did Ileave the car?!’ The result is you get a lotof people wandering about aimlessly. Andthat helps car criminals because they toocan look like they’re wandering aboutaimlessly, looking for a car. So we put upsigns and landmarks, icons in theenvironment, so people can find their wayback. We make sure that the parkingbays are laid out neat and square, not atchaotic angles. These changes have had asignificant effect.
“The job is so big just at Tesco’s that it’simpossible for me to do it all. So I’m training
the designers, trying to convert them to thisway of thinking, that the best way to designout crime is to reduce the opportunity anddesire to offend. That requires anunderstanding of the current models ofcriminal behaviour. I think designing out crime should be part of the HE curriculum forarchitects and designers. The fundamentalmessage is this: ‘If people think your store and car park is safe and crime-free, they’ll useit more.’ So the long-term benefits shouldultimately outweigh the cost of the investment.”
SHOP LIFTHOW A MAJOR SUPERMARKET CHAINUSED DESIGN TO CUT STORE CRIME
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ENTRANCE CROSSOVER
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PROMINENT KERB LINES TOCREATE ONE-WAY CIRCUIT
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www.designcouncil.org.uk
Guy D
igby
Criminals ask three basic questions: ‘Can I be seen? If I amseen, will I be noticed? If I am seen and noticed, will anybodydo anything about it?’
Supermarkets are in a constant battle againstshoplifting. The British Retail Consortium RetailCrime Survey 1999 showed the cost of crimelosses by UK retailers from customer theft, stafftheft and criminal damage was a staggering£1.3 billion. That’s an increase of some 28% onthe previous year and this figure does notinclude other criminal activities, such as cartheft and violence in retail car parks. It hasproved a difficult business to design an openand consumer-friendly environment that doesn’talso double as a shoplifting friendly environment.But one man, Greg Lawrence, the former DeputyChair of the Designing Out Crime Association(DOCA) and now Tesco’s EnvironmentalCriminologist, has been on a mission to changethe thinking about supermarket layout.
“I’m an ex-policeman. I went into mainstreampolice to ride in fast cars with sirens and blueflashing lights – all the exciting things in life. I did a course on crime prevention and soonafter became a crime prevention officer and inthose days crime prevention was about locksand bolts. The theory was, if you couldpersuade people to use lots of locks andbolts, crime would drop. Very naïve. But I
also noticed, because I wasn’tcompletely stupid, that my job didn’tmake a lot of sense. I worked out that ifI visited all the houses in my part ofWorcestershire to help them with thelocks and bolts philosophy, I’d be visitinghouses into the middle of this centuryand still wouldn’t have got round themall. What really changed my approach was aproject about crime on factory estates. Crimethere was going through the roof. So we had aseries of meetings and I had a go at them.Locks and bolts I said. And, much as expected,after the meetings, crime stopped dead. ‘Well,’I thought. ‘How clever of me!’
“But my boss wasn’t so easily impressed. Hetold me not to take the drop at face value. So Iwent to check what had happened. And whathad happened was the ‘halo effect’. Peoplehad become more vigilant, and that, in itself,had had an impact. The local council had alsoplayed a vital role that at first seemedcompletely unconnected. There was a routebetween a housing estate and a school, andthe short cut was through this factory estateand along the back of the buildings. The route
was lined with high bushes. I noticed thecouncil had trimmed them right back.Somehow, I felt, the fact that the hedges weresmaller was an important issue. And then Iread some Oscar Newman, the American guruof criminology. He identifies three key issues incrime. To commit a crime it’s really useful if you have anonymity (ie, you don’t stand outbecause you’re expected to be there), freedomfrom surveillance and an alternative escaperoute. Criminals ask three basic questions: ‘CanI be seen? If I am seen, will I be noticed? If Iam seen and noticed, will anybody do anythingabout it?’ Basically, cutting the hedges downmade potential criminals uncomfortable.
“From then on, I couldn’t get enough of it, and I started reading books on the subject for fun!I learnt that names already existed for whatthe local authority had done when theytrimmed the bushes. I could make new senseof architectural terminology like ‘movementgenerators’ and ‘desire lines’, and in verysimple terms, I discovered that it was all aboutmaking criminals visible and unsafe, while atthe same time making law-abiding people feelsecure. Back at the force, I became a bit of an
authority on the subject. Then, approachingretirement, I was headhunted by Tesco. Thefirst principle I began to apply was thetendency for shoplifters to go for CRAVEDproducts. If a product is Concealable,Removable, Available, Valuable,Enjoyable and Disposable, it’s a target.And out of all these, enjoyable is themost important. DVDs are goodexamples. Another one is SouthernComfort. Southern Comfort gets nickedfar more often than single malt whisky.Most young criminals know aboutSouthern Comfort. They know theirmates will like it. They won’t be so sureabout Laophraig. So it follows that someproducts need more protection than others. So there’s not much need for heavy security fora tin of beans. You can put them near the exitor the entrance. But it would be unwise to doso with DVDs or Southern Comfort. If you do,make sure CCTV is trained on them.
“I’m also recommending a range of otherchanges, such as wider aisles and lower shelves.Lower shelving works like lower hedgerows. It means fewer blind spots for CCTV and more
exposure for the shoplifters. But obviously theworry is that less display space won’t bebalanced financially by the security benefits.I’ve discovered that the most effective designset for preventing in-store crime is the cul-de-sac. There’s an assumption that shoppers don’twant cul-de-sacs – they want to be able toflow round a supermarket. But the fact is, cul-de-sacs are good for the customer and bad forthe criminal. If a criminal has only got oneentrance and exit, he or she feels unsafe. And,deep down, law-abiding customers feel safer ifthey aren’t exposed by a variety of openentrances. That feeling is worth a lot.
“Thieves use the store as a through route. It’s typical that a practised shoplifter will walkthrough the store, pick up the stuff he wantsto nick, put it in a trolley, walk straight to thefire exit, unload the trolley’s contents into awaiting car, and be off. We had one particularstore where this was becoming a seriousproblem. So we introduced a barrier outsidethe store. Seconds are precious in a ‘push out’crime like this. By building the barrier, wecreated a psychological cul-de-sac. It stoppedthe crime dead in this particular store.
Lower shelving means fewer blind spots forCCTV and more exposure for shoplifters
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“I often give them the example of Dingle Grove. Peoplewouldn’t leave their houses for fear of burglary. It meant theydidn’t even go out for job interviews. Since alleygating youcan’t get hold of them. They’re all out working!”
arrange, change of use issues... Then, whenwe’ve resolved that lot and actually cleared analley of all the vegetation, mattresses and oldbicycles, and when we’ve finally put the gatesup, suddenly weeding becomes an issue. Who’sgoing to make sure the alley stays clean?
“And then there’s cats. They can’t climb thegates any more than humans can, so shouldthere be a cat flap? And what about the police– do they get master keys? Problems rangefrom how does the window cleaner get in toaccess by police armed response teams.”
Day by day Martin is becoming the UK’salleygating king. He is the one who has foundthe best way round the mounting mountain ofissues. But why go through all this?
“Because the results are so spectacular. In most areas now we see an almostimmediate 60% drop in crimes. Bin bagfires suddenly become a rarity. We’re fitting ten gates a day seven days a week. We’ve done600 so far [August 2001] and we’ve got anagreement to go for another 2,000 gates onMerseyside. The demand from local residents isenormous. Frankly, we’ve been overwhelmed.”
But surely the biggest problem is allocatingthe keyholders? “Ah,” says Martin (he’s beenwaiting for this one), “the key is the key!Management of the key works to bring thecommunities together. Deciding who holds the key means everybody in the communitybecomes involved because they have a clearinterest to be involved. I mean, they want toget to their own back yards. So they need thekey. I thought the key would be a problem, but it’s a facilitator. The key issue creates acommunity hub. Residents create a KeyAllocation Bureau, and Key Monitors areassigned for bin days, window cleaners, etc. In fact in many cases we have successfully
assigned people arrested in the alleys, such asdrug abusers, to help in the building andinstallation of the gates themselves.
“Funding comes through a combination ofgovernment grants such as the Home OfficeBurglary Reduction Fund, EU grants and thelike. And now we’re getting some famouscustomers. Liverpool FC wants a set – infact we’re involved in our first court caseto try to secure the right to obstruct analley near Anfield so we can put up gatesthat will stop Away fans urinating ontheir route from the station to theturnstile queuing area.”
So what are the drawbacks? “There areconcerns that crime is moved on to otherareas, and we’re studying that. At the momentthe indication is that crime moves on, peaksand then tails off. A lot of acquisitive crime isdown to opportunity. If a young burglar has aneasy target, it becomes a temptation. Alleyscan help provide an easy target. But if youtake the opportunity away, then the impulse to steal, or vandalise or break the law in someother way, disappears too.
“Also the gates are subject to attack by peoplewho think it would be great to disable the lockmechanism with Superglue. But now we’vemade the lock Superglue proof, by the simplebut brilliantly effective expedient of coatingthem in Vaseline at manufacture and ensuringthey stay greased up.
“At the moment the gates cost at least £800each. That’s not much to pay, really. The costof a single burglary can often be more thanthat, and the saving in police time and stressto the residents makes alleygating a reallyinexpensive option.
“The gates are flat-panelled, providing notoeholds, and there’s a roller bar on the top
coated with anti-vandal paint on which it’simpossible to get a grip. They are steel gates,so they’ll never look beautiful, but they do looktrim and neat. Martin Newton: “Each gatehas 72 parts and takes longer to buildthan a Ford car! So we’ve been chattingto Ford Jaguar and we’re about to gointo partnership! They’re going to sourcethe steel for us, and the Jaguar designengineers are going to do a taskcomplexity reduction exercise using Fordworldwide components. For example, theymight use Mondeo grill parts to create thegalvanised mesh we use in the gate toprovide visibility down the alley.”
Alex Grant lives in terraced accommodationwhere crime is high. He is fighting to getalleygates brought into his area. But in themeantime, he’s been working as theCommunity Safety Manager of the alleygatingproject for Local Solutions (formerly MCVS,Merseyside Council Voluntary Services). He’sbeen amazed by the scheme’s impact. “My jobis to persuade residents that alleygating is agood idea. If we don’t get 94% agreement, itwon’t happen, for legal reasons. But it’s not atough call. I often give them the example ofDingle Grove. People wouldn’t leave theirhouses for fear of burglary. It meant theydidn’t even go out for job interviews. Since alleygating you can’t get hold of them.They’re all out working! In some areas ofLiverpool it was really hard to sell yourproperty if it was a two-up two-down, becauseof the crime problem associated with houseslike these. Now, the same property is shiftingbecause the residents feel more secure. Where before the back alley might have beena rat run, a dump and a criminal’s haunt, now it features hanging flower baskets. The difference it’s made to people’s lives hasbeen enormous.”
RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEYHOW LOCAL COMMUNITIES ARESHUTTING OUT CRIME
www.designcouncil.org.uk
Back alleys in terraced housing are a mixedblessing. They were designed to provide ‘easyin, easy out’ for the owners and tenants. Butwhat wasn’t anticipated, of course, was howthose alleys would become dumping groundsfor waste and rubbish, and, far worse, breedinggrounds for an alarming range of crime. ‘Easyin, easy out’ works for burglars, too.
These alleys have gradually produced somealarming statistics. Such as the fact that 70%of burglaries in a major conurbation area arein terraced properties – and 70% of those arethrough the rear entry alley. High-walled,poorly lit, and strewn with detritus, the alleysare a breeding ground for crime.
Liverpool, it turns out, has been sufferingparticularly badly from the alley disease. Thatis, until, in 1993, Martin Newton, now theHead of the Safer Merseyside Partnership, wascontacted by a residents’ association desperatefor help. It was a happy coincidence; he’d justseen a report on the successful pioneering of‘alleygating’ by Calvin Beckford in Camden,London. He was able to offer the residents adesign solution that had the potential to cureall their problems in one bold move.
Alleygating is simple in recipe, but morecomplex in the serving up. Take one alley (orjigger as it’s known in Liverpool). Cleanout all the rubbish. Build an unclimbable
gate at both ends of it which is ruggedyet transparent and attractivelydesigned. Supply residents with the keys.Result? Burglars, drug abusers, muggers,fly-tippers, arsonists and prostitutesgradually move away. Fear of crimereduces. Stress levels fall. Apathywithers. Pride in the local environmentrises. Everyone’s quality of life improves.Excellent.
Except getting there isn’t so easy. MartinNewton: “There are rights of access issues,decisions to be made about whether the gate is blocking a highway, emergency access issues,laws on lighting to consider, utility access to
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“The idea was to introduce a flash of thin plastic that wouldcover the screwdriver nooks. To get the screwdriver in, you hadto break them off. Once they were broken off, it was clear thatthe container had been opened.”
Of course, this particular ‘neat trick’ hadrepercussions. Such as, if you happenedto want to paint your front room, andyou’d lugged home a couple of pots ofDulux’s best magnolia, only to discoverthey were full of faintly-coloured water,chances are you might be a bit put out.You might begin to think bad things aboutDulux. You might think: “Hey, pretty dog onthe TV, but their standards are falling andthey’re making really useless paint.” ICI beganto get a stream of complaints. And, vigilantguardians of one of their top brands, theydecided to do something about it.
‘Doing something about it’ consisted of passingthe complaints straight on to their paintcontainer suppliers. And so it fell to GlynStaines, the Technical and DevelopmentManager of RPC Containers, to come up with asolution. “Our lid is designed to be opened witha screwdriver. There are three nooks in the lidcut out specially so you can slip a screwdriverin and lever up the plastic lid. Great design, butif you’re careful, you can get the lid off and onagain without showing it’s been opened.
“We had an internal discussion about what todo, and ideas ranged from a total redesign ofthe packaging to ideas on what we might dowith the current lid. We thought of variousthings; special security bands, sealingthe whole container in plastic – allbarriers to easy opening, which, ofcourse, the average shopper won’t be tookeen on. And then someone came up witha totally different idea. Don’t try to stoppeople getting into the product. Let themin, but show everyone that they’ve beenthere. Show the world the container has beentampered with.And from that came ‘plastic tabs’.
“The idea was to introduce a flash of thinplastic that would cover the screwdriver nooks.To get the screwdriver in, you had to breakthem off. Once they were broken off, it wasclear that the container had been opened. Now normally, such a redesign on an injectionmoulding tool would have been horriblyexpensive. But we worked out an easy way todo it. The male half of the mould contains theprojection that makes the nook. By filing awayits tip, we could allow a thin film of plastic to
flow in during manufacture. When the lidemerged from the mould, the nook would becovered in a thin plastic tab that would justsnap off when pressed with a screwdriver.” It was a very slight modification. Ingeniousand inexpensive, like most good ideas.
“We thought it might just be a temporarysolution, but it turned out to be the perfectanswer. Now we see the idea being usedthroughout the packaging industry. Tamper-evident containers are de rigueur in mostindustries.” You can see why. Apart from theserious dangers involved, especially in foodproducts, there is a serious risk of damage topublic perceptions of a brand if it becomesapparent that the company cannot protect the contents of its product.
It’s been five years since ICI last reported aproblem with their cans. When they raised theissue they could not have expected such acomprehensive solution to have been deliveredso fast. But thanks to the efforts of the designteam at RPC Containers, the GreatBirmingham Paint Scam was at an end.
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PAINT TAINTHOW DESIGNERS FOILED THE GREATBIRMINGHAM PAINT SCAM
www.designcouncil.org.uk
Crime is not a glamorous affair. More often than not it’s justpetty and irritating. Not long ago there was a spate of suchcrime in the Birmingham area. It was happening at the big DIY‘sheds’. It seems a group of people had cottoned on to a money-saving trick. Why buy expensive Dulux paint when you can get itfor free? All you had to do, they discovered (and thenenthusiastically told an ever-widening group), was to go to yournearest ‘shed’, buy the paint of your choice, open it carefully,empty it into another container, fill the tin up again with waterso it would feel full, close the lid, and take it back to the ‘shed’,saying you’d changed your mind, you hadn’t opened the container,so could you have your money back please? “No problem, sir.Glad to be of service, sir.” Bingo. Free paint. Ha, ha, ha.
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“We still have problems, of course. Drug abuse in the toilets isone of the main ones. We’ve taken away bins and anything thatmakes it easy to stash or dump syringes, needles etc. And weilluminate the cubicles with a blue light, which makes itdifficult for needle users to find a vein.”
visitors – whether you were Prince Charles or asex worker – would all come in the same doorand hang around the same place. And we alsowanted room for an editorial office andadministration.
“The new building is so much better!” saysAnne. “We’ve provided showers, toilets and alaunderette, a health suite to do mainstreamand alternative health, a training room, an ITsuite, and a room for activities like drummingworkshops.
“We’ve created a fantastic feeling oftransparency and openness by cutting amassive hole right through the heart ofthe building from the roof to the groundfloor. It’s created a kind of atrium whichlets light flood down through thereception area, and allows everyone tosee the innards of the building, whilesimultaneously allowing us to see what’sgoing on. It’s a two-way communicationbetween our staff and our vendors. Theopenness of our building reflects the fact thatwe trust our vendors to treat their environmentwith respect. Our vendors can see how we work,and we can see what they’re doing.
“We don’t have vandalism inside the building.The open design has been a huge factor inthis. We spend a lot of money on cleaning,keeping it looking nice. And, all part of the
same ideology, it’s important that our staffshare the same attitude to their workingenvironment. We encourage them to workaccording to our ‘CIRCL’ values of Creativity,Impact, Respect, Courage and Love. Thebuilding reflects those values too.
“Cost was the big battle.Reducing the floor spaceoffered to improve transparency and enhancesecurity, but it would also mean less room tosell magazines and gain revenue. So we strucka balance. The directors were keen that costshould not be pursued to the detriment ofupholding the organisation’s values and ethos.
“We still have problems, of course. Drug abusein the toilets is one of the main ones. We’vetaken away bins and anything that makes iteasy to stash or dump syringes, needles etc.And we illuminate the cubicles with a bluelight, which makes it difficult for needle usersto find a vein. The toilets are checked every 20minutes and they are closed down if we finddrugs in them. We ask for respect from ourvendors and most of them give respect. But ifsomeone continues to do drugs in the loos, forexample, we’ll put up a notice: ‘Toilet closedbecause Jamie was caught scoring in them,again.’ Then ‘Jamie’ comes under peer pressureto behave himself.
“Sometimes you suffer for your principles. Wehave a 120-foot glass frontage. It doesn’t have
shutters, unlike most of the surroundingproperties. Transparency is so important to us.It’s impossible to ramraid – there’s an effectivemoat around the building. But we’ve still hadto foot the bill for £10,000 in damage to thewindows by drunks.
“There’ve been a few mistakes we’relooking to rectify. The lighting levels, forexample, are too low for some of theCCTV cameras. But in general it’s been agreat success. We have, in short, cut downon the crime in our HQ and yet made it areally welcoming place. You don’t usuallyassociate welcome with security!
“The idea was to make people on the streetfeel wanted, and to feel like they hadsomewhere they could go. I didn’t want tocreate another rundown charity organisationhoused in some corridored building peopled by be-cardiganed, non-smoking do-gooders!We wanted a different feel, something moreprofessional, something light and airy.Someone said it looked like an ad agency!Well, that’s fine by me. The building is aboutwelcome and freedom. It’s not just prettycolours. It’s about honesty and at least somefreedom and respect. It’s about the fact thatthe vendors can use a third of the buildingwithout anyone stopping them. It’s aboutbeing as trusting as possible, and encouragingresponsibility for oneself.”
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LITTLE TROUBLE AT BIG ISSUEHOW A CAREFULLY DESIGNED BUILDINGCREATED RESPECT AND CUT CRIME
How do you create a space for society’soutsiders? How do you make a comfortableroom for people who, in some cases, societyhas rejected, or who have, for one reason oranother, rejected society itself? It’s argued thatit is the fundamental duty of a civilised societyto provide the best possible quality of life it can afford for all its members. But the rub liesin the word ‘afford’ – there are huge issues over who should pay for it.
Huge issues. Some say it’s the biggest issue.How can you help such people afford to helpthemselves? Gordon Roddick of the Body Shopfirst saw the beginnings of an answer on thestreets of New York, where homeless peoplewere selling Street News to help supportthemselves. He flew home, teamed up withJohn Bird, and created the Big Issue, a
magazine about the big issues of the day, soldby homeless vendors so they could use themoney to survive. But the truth is the vendorsneed more than cash. They need a place to go,in the warm, out of the rain, where they can mix and, perhaps, see a way back to taking partin society.
The Big Issue in the North was started inDecember 1992, by Anne McNamara and herbusiness partner Ruth Turner as a North Westsupplement of the London-based magazine.They bought their current headquarters inManchester in 1998. But why go to the hugeexpense of refurbishing a building? Why notjust rent?
Anne McNamara: “I was never very happyabout renting. It seemed like throwing away
money, and, frankly, we couldn’t be sure ofsecurity of tenure. The truth is, we don’t makea popular tenant. We have hundreds ofhomeless people coming in and out all day.We have cash and computers on thepremises, and our old HQ in Manchesterwas regularly broken into. Graffiti wasone problem. Vandalism another. Youhad to be a damned fine landlord to putup with us! And anyway, we were never ableto find rented accommodation that wasentirely suitable for our purpose.
“We wanted to create a really effectiveenvironment to help homeless people to moveon. We wanted a building with a lot ofcirculation space, where people could mingleand converse. We wanted only one entranceand exit, so that the vendors, the staff and the >
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“I can stand at any point in the pub and see everybody andeverywhere, from the pool table to the toilet door. That makesmy job much easier.”
past, the biggest change in the pub took placein the main bar. Out went the nooks and cran-nies of the traditional English pub. In came an L-shaped open-plan layout withcomprehensive (but discreet) CCTV coverage.
“I can stand at any point in the pub and seeeverybody and everywhere, from the pool tableto the toilet door,” says John Beasley. “Thatmakes my job much easier. We’ve got 15 cam-eras on 24-hour record. State of the art. Youcan look at the tape and see what time it is onsomebody’s watch. Puts potential drug dealersright off.”
Roger Burton also put strong emphasis ongood exterior lighting, increasing the illumina-tion in the car park to discourage car thieves.This helped dissipate the drug dealing commu-nity that had built up around the pub. The toi-lets were repositioned away from the mainentrance. This was because drug dealers werein the habit of making their contacts on thestreet and then using the toilets for privacy forsampling the drugs and dividing up the ‘gear’.“Toilets near the door provide an ‘easy-in, easy-out’,” says the landlord. Low-lying shrubberywas planted around the pub, making it lookmore welcoming without providing hidingplaces. As Roger Burton pointed out: “These
design decisions were simple gestures, basedon my experience of securing buildings, buttaken in their totality they were extremelyeffective.”
John Beasley: “I had a lot of threats when Iopened up under the new name: ‘We’re goingto burn you down! We’re coming mob-handed!We’re gonna tear the cameras off the wall!’ I’d like to see them try – mostly the camerasare just pinpricks in the paint. That way thecustomers aren’t made uncomfortable by them.
“And I introduced a few security measures ofmy own. John, my doorman, for example.” John uses various tricks of the trade to supportthe redesign. “I used to work in a serviceman’s club in Sale, and the rule there was ‘no hats’. So I’ve got the same rule in my pub. Why?Because dealers keep drugs in the linings oftheir baseball caps. And I banned scruffs anddrunks. That is, drunks that came in drunk.Now it’s a couples’ pub. A community pub.
“I’ve trained the staff to watch out for trouble.I say: ‘Listen for the noise – and then the quiet.That’s the lull before the storm. The customerssense trouble and it all goes quiet.’ Since theredesign we’ve had hardly any incidents here.Recently some bloke took exception to the way
some other bloke was chatting his wife up. So I threw them all out. But they came back afew days later. No hard feelings. What I doevery night is I visit every table. I make a pointof talking to everybody. I can say: ‘It’s gettinga bit loud, lads.’ And they say: ‘OK John’, andquieten down.
“It’s a genuine community pub now.We’re building a beer garden and a playarea for kids. But we’re making it secure.The play area will only be accessiblefrom the pub, so strangers can’t get tothem from off the street. We even havemorris dancing here! If that ain’t a signthat things have changed, I don’t knowwhat is.”
The Pear Tree was one of the worst performingpublic houses in the Scottish and Newcastlebrewery chain. The Wendover is one of theirbest. It was the first pub to be awarded‘Secured By Design’ status, and that had animmediate effect on the clientele number andits profitability. “People come because theyknow it is safe,” says John Beasley. It tells thelesson, plain and simple, that the right design,coupled with the right people (preferably fromthe local community) can improve lives andbring profit.
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FROM DODGY PUB TO SOCIAL HUBHOW ONE OF BRITAIN’S WORST LOCALSBECAME ONE OF THE BEST
What’s in a name? How could it be that a pubcalled the Pear Tree could be one of the worstpubs in the country, and a pub called theWendover could become one of the best, when they were, in fact, the same pubs underdifferent names? The answer? An effectivelandlord coupled with effective design.
The Pear Tree pub in Wythenshawe,Manchester, was the sort of place you wouldn’twant to take your mother. Local resident JohnBeasley: “For 25 years the Pear Tree was a
great pub, until it all went, well, pear-shaped. It was infested with low-life. Anyone who hadanything to sell, anything bent or knockedoff, came to the Pear Tree. The druggieswould all sit outside, drinking theirsupermarket beer, and cars would bepulling up and driving off all day long. It became a dangerous place to be. Therewas one shooting and several knifings as rivalsbattled to control the drug supply. Eventuallythe community started making a fuss and thepub was closed down. And then something odd
happened. They asked me and my wife Aileento run it. The idea was that the Pear Tree wasgoing to be bulldozed and we were going tostart from scratch. A complete rebuild.”
The redesign was directed by GreaterManchester Police’s Crime Reduction AdvisorDC Roger Burton, who oversaw the projectusing Crime Prevention Through EnvironmentalDesign (CPTED) principles. Apart from thename change, which was thought essential tohelp dispel all association with its crime-laden >
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The introduction of such a system has enabled Hyundai tobecome a leading enterprise in the field. The company hasraised the price of its apartments, which have continued toincrease in value. The Hyundai Apartments are undoubtedlythe buildings of the future.
building should be used. Secondly, the parkingarea should be as close as possible to the mainentrance. Thirdly, the scale of the complexshould be more human. Large complexes areeasier for criminals to work in. And fourthly,new window and door systems should bedevised to prevent unauthorised entry.
Hyundai then initiated co-operation between agroup of partners. It was key to the successof this project that the construction,telecommunication and equipment man-ufacturing companies all worked hand inhand to achieve the same objective.
There are many personal security systems theKoreans could have chosen to militate againstunauthorised entry – key systems, swipe cardsystems, pin number systems, even iris or veinrecognition systems. But in the end, for reasonsboth financial and operational, they choseelectronic fingerprint identification. This devicerequires all residents to record their finger-prints on a computer. Then, when they come toenter the building, they put their fingers onthe sensor plate at the door. The computerreads them and matches it against those inthe database.
Door designer Professor Dae-Woo Lee of Seo-ilUniversity explains the teething problems: “We
had problems with frequent damage done tothe fingerprint reader because the device isexposed to the exterior. To resolve it, we bor-rowed from the principle of a camera shutterand applied it in designing the actual finger-print reader inside the door. In order to accessthe reader, one must input a PIN number.Then, the fingerprint reader slides out. We’ve innovated the design and the mech-anism to carry out such a process.”
That’s good for residents. But what about visi-tors? The fact that visitors must beallowed into an apartment is nearlyalways the weakest point of any securitysystem. So Hyundai installed an AccessMonitoring system. Residents monitorentry of visitors through the entrancesusing the home automation system. This is a computer screen set in the wallconnected to the CCTV system at theentrance. The resident can actually seewho is at the door, and can also taketelephone and text messages on screen.
But what if you don’t know your visitor?Burglars often disguise themselves as electrici-ty, water or gas meter readers and persuaderesidents to let them in. So Hyundai came upwith a meter-reading system which automati-cally monitors the resident’s energy use and
which could be read remotely by the utilitycompanies. This system offered an unexpectedadvantage. Because the meter-readings arealso displayed inside the property on the maincomputer screen, it made it far easier for theresidents themselves to monitor their ownenergy use and reduce their consumption.
The security system is nothing if not compre-hensive. It includes a variety of specially tai-lored alarms to detect thieves, burglars, smokeand gas. It’s fully integrated, and connectedback to the security centre operated by theprofessional security enterprise, SOK CoLimited. CCTV has also been installed in thechildren’s park, basement parking area and lift.
The introduction of such a system has enabledHyundai to become a leading enterprise in thefield. The company has raised the price of itsapartments, which have continued to increasein value. The Hyundai Apartments areundoubtedly the buildings of the future, andwhile they may not be able to prevent a con-certed attack, the buildings will make their res-idents feel more secure and less stressed.
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The security system is noth-ing if not comprehensive. Itincludes a variety of special-ly-tailored alarms to detectthieves, burglars, smoke andgas. It’s fully integrated, andconnected back to the securi-ty centre operated by theprofessional security enter-prise, SOK Co Limited
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HI-TECH HI-RISEHOW THE FLATS OF THE FUTURE WILLFIGHT THE CRIMES OF TODAY
There’s one major problem with high-riseapartments. The world and his wife can wanderthe corridors and not look out of place, becauseno one knows if they should be there or not.And that is the perfect environment for criminals.It’s easy for them to look like they’re just visiting.So how do you secure a block of residentialapartments while simultaneously allowing easyaccess to residents and their guests?
In 1990, the Hyundai Construction Companyin Korea set out to develop an apartmentblock designed to prevent burglaries and othercrime associated with unauthorised access, forexample, muggings, vandalism and graffiti.
They drew on research by the KoreanInstitute of Criminology, which showedthat large, tall buildings suffer from ahigh incidence of crime, especially if theylack a dominant central space, a focalaccess area. They noted that complexesdesigned on many different levels, andfeaturing corridors that don’t give resi-dents or visitors a clear line of vision,increase both the fear of crime and itsincidence level. The implications were clear:change the building’s structure, design out theshadows and corners where trouble might lurk,and crime rates will drop and fear of crime willdissipate.
First, Hyundai set about analysing city and res-idential crime statistics and then gathereddata to identify the link between the spatialstructure of buildings and crime within them.The aim was to ‘design out’ vulnerable areas, to prevent unauthorised entry, and to developan integrated security system using electronicand physical barriers.
A number of important action points emergedfrom the research. Firstly, it was clear thatreception areas should be central, as close aspossible to all parts of the building, and thatthese areas should provide clear navigationaids, showing visitors and residents how the >
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In 1990, the Hyundai Construction Company in Korea setout to develop an apartment block designed to preventburglaries and other crime associated with unauthorisedaccess, for example, muggings, vandalism and graffiti
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Although a scientific investigation of the impact of toughenedglass has yet to be completed, in February 2001 the ManchesterEvening News announced: “ ‘Glassing’ attacks are down to zero.’’
well in France not so much because it is lessdangerous, but because it’s so durable.
“The problem up here in the North West is thatthe big breweries are powerful, and they’vebeen resistant to toughened glass,” says Max.“Mainly because they’ve been dealing inmassive contracts with suppliers of standardglass, and it takes time to change. But there’s a strong tradition of independent pubs andbars in this area, so we’ve been able to makebig in-roads there.”
But the big breweries are making progress inhelping to bring toughened glass to the drinkingpublic. As a spokesman for the Brewers andLicensed Retailers Association said: “The pubindustry is acutely conscious of its socialresponsibilities, and is second to none inworking constructively with the
government and the police. This newinitiative on toughened beer glassesunderlies how we are responding topeople’s concerns with practical action.”In fact, almost 50% of pubs and barshave now begun to use toughened glasses.
“Glass is so dangerous, even when people don’treally want to hurt someone,” says Max. “I heardrecently of a landlord who was trying to throwfive youths out of his pub. One of them lost hisrag and threw his beer bottle at the wall – justto make an impact. But a piece of jagged glassflew in the eye of two-year-old. Beer glasses areonly really dangerous if you’ve smashed themfirst. Same with wine glasses. People knock theballoon off and used the jagged head on thestem to stab with. It’s much more of a problemin the UK than anywhere else in Europe. Thereare more aggressive people here.”
There is no doubt that the SafeGlass-SafeCitycampaign is working. Although a scientificinvestigation of the impact of toughened glasshas yet to be completed, in February 2001 theManchester Evening News announced: “ ‘Glassing’ attacks are down to zero.’’ But thesame is not true in all UK cities. In the wordsof Max Perez: “I go to London quite a lot, andI’m always shocked by the amount of venuesthat don’t have toughened glasses. I wouldn’tlike my kids to walk into a venue where therewas no toughened glass.”
Max is keen to push the toughened glassculture throughout the land. “Selling saferglass makes sense from every point of view.Not least of all from mine. Since switching toselling toughened glass, my business hasimproved by 15%.”
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www.designcouncil.org.uk
“So if you knock one over, or fall on it, you’re not in hospital.And if someone decided he wanted to slash you with it, he’d be disappointed. He’d have trouble smashing the glass in thefirst place, and when he did, he’d have nothing left in his hand!”
A few years back, Max Perez went to a weddingin Southport. He was enjoying himself – it wasa happy affair. He was chatting away to somemates when he spotted some trouble brewing.“Some guys had walked in uninvited. One ofthem had picked a bottle up, and another hadtaken a pint glass. Then they started beingabusive to the ladies. Me and a bouncerwalked over to tell the ladies to move awayand the guy with the pint broke the glass on atable and then stabbed the bouncer in thechest. Then he stabbed a girl, cutting her wrist.As I moved in, I got shoved by one of the guyswhile the one with the bottle used it to slashmy face.”
Max Perez worked in the glass business at thetime. He was owner and Managing Director of
AlphaBar drinking glass suppliers, based inWarrington. The incident made him change hisbusiness forever. “It brought home to me howdangerous the glasses I was selling were. I knew I couldn’t sell that stuff anymore. I alsoknew the French had come up with tougheneddrink glasses, but there was a problem sellingthem here because they were too expensive.”
And then it happened again. Rachel Franks, ayoung woman having a drink in a Manchesterbar, was nearly blinded when a man shoved abroken glass into her face. Max found himselfworking hand in hand with GreaterManchester Police and the Manchester EveningNews to promote the use of toughened glass.The SafeGlass-SafeCity campaign is a growingpartnership, working towards making
Manchester city centre a safer place for peopleto visit and enjoy its vibrant nightlife.
“Toughened glass lasts longer thannormal glass,” says Max. “Sometimesfive times longer. It’s much harder tobreak, and, if it is smashed, it breaksinto loads of tiny, blunt pieces. That’sgreat. Suddenly glasses aren’t dangerousany more. So if you knock one over, or fall onit, you’re not in hospital. And if someonedecided he wanted to slash you with it, he’d be disappointed. He’d have trouble smashingthe glass in the first place, and when he did,he’d have nothing left in his hand!
“And the other bonus is that people drinkingout of them can’t tell the difference between
the two. If you put a bright light behind twopints of beer, one in a toughened glass, theother in a traditional one, you might notice the traditional glass was more transparent, butyou’d never tell in the sort of light you have inpubs or bars. Even outside in the beer gardenyou’d be pushed to notice.”
The secret of toughened glass lies in itsmanufacture. Specially formulated glass isslowly heated, and then quickly cooled severaltimes. The process, which is similar to thetempering of steel in the manufacturing ofquality knives or tools, produces multiple layerswithin the glass. This strengthens the glass,increases its impact resistance by more thanfive times and eliminates stress points, allowingit to withstand temperature extremes. It’s sold
The Design Council’s purpose is‘to inspire and enable the bestuse of design by the UK, in theworld context, to improve pros-perity and well-being’.
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Published January 2002Registered Charity no: 272099© 2002 The Design Council ISBN
Designed by howdyWritten by Nick SkeensResearched by Design PolicyPartnership
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