How do we create protection, perceived security, or resiliency in our designs?

Understanding what conditions create true safety, both physical and psychological, enables us to use design as a means of delivering on what matters to each community.

 

Primed for Resiliency

Mahlum worked alongside the District in providing a building that is Net-Zero Ready and 62.8% more efficient than a typical building of similar size. The new Beaverton Middle School incorporates the following critical features that support the Oregon Resiliency Plan (ORP):

  • Increased seismic resistance levels to the primary building structure
  • A generator sized to operate lights and ventilation in key sheltering areas of the building and administration/communications areas
  • Hook-ups for water trucks to supply potable water to the building

Through careful design consideration, critical features can enable projects to withstand a serious event, such as an earthquake, and continue to provide power, water, and sewer.

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Safety

“Home is where children find safety and security, where we find our identities, where citizenship starts. It usually starts with believing you’re part of a community, and that is essential to having a stable home.”

― Matthew Desmond