As the UK reassesses how it protects its defence estate, critical national infrastructure and high-risk public buildings, security is increasingly being treated as a design discipline rather than a late-stage specification. In that shift, few frameworks have gained as much renewed relevance as Secured by Design (SBD) — the official police-backed initiative that sets out how buildings, products and layouts should actively reduce crime and risk.
Long associated in the public mind with residential developments and planning policy, Secured by Design is now firmly on the radar of security consultants, architects and procurement teams working far beyond housing. Its emphasis on independently tested products, traceable manufacture and crime prevention through design aligns closely with the demands of modern, mission-critical environments.
For Birmingham-based manufacturer Warrior Doors, strong support for Secured by Design is a natural extension of how the company already operates.
“Secured by Design is about removing assumptions,” says Managing Director Brett Barratt. “It insists on independent testing, ongoing certification and clear accountability. That’s exactly how security products should be treated, whether they’re protecting a home or a defence facility.”
At the heart of the SBD programme is the Police Preferred Specification, which requires products to be independently tested and certified by UKAS-accredited bodies. This goes beyond the minimum requirements of Approved Document Q in England and equivalent regulations in Scotland and Wales, demanding ongoing auditing to ensure what is installed on site is identical to what was originally tested.
That philosophy mirrors the approach taken by Warrior Doors in its manufacture of LPS 1175 SR-rated stainless steel doorsets, including fully glazed SR2 and SR3 doors and the company’s rare SR3-rated sliding security doors.
“In high-risk environments, a door is a system that has to perform under real attack conditions. Independent certification removes ambiguity. It tells everyone — client, contractor, insurer and end user — exactly what that door can withstand” explains Barratt.
While SBD was born out of a need to address poor-quality housing design in the late 20th century, its evolution has made it increasingly relevant to complex, high-security sites. The programme’s design guides, emphasis on natural surveillance and integration with planning policy reflect a broader understanding: security failures are often designed in long before they are exploited.
For defence facilities, utilities, laboratories and data centres, this resonates strongly. These sites are defined by controlled movement, layered security zones and the need for visibility without vulnerability — challenges that SBD principles directly address.
Barratt continues; “Security is about sightlines, access control, how people move through a space and how vulnerabilities are reduced before a building even opens. Secured by Design understands that.”
The renewed focus on SBD also intersects with another growing concern: sovereign, traceable manufacturing. Defence and infrastructure clients are increasingly wary of extended global supply chains and opaque subcontracting. SBD’s insistence on independently audited production supports that shift.
Warrior Doors manufactures its products entirely in Birmingham, maintaining control over steelwork, glazing, assembly and testing. That model not only satisfies defence procurement expectations but also aligns with SBD’s long-standing campaign to ensure continuity between tested products and those installed on site.
“Security fails when accountability is diluted,” Barratt notes. “SBD pushes the industry in the opposite direction — towards transparency, repeatability and responsibility. That’s good for clients, good for manufacturers and ultimately good for public safety.”
With UK infrastructure investment set to accelerate and defence spending rising, the relevance of Secured by Design is only likely to grow. Its expansion into Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, along with the National Building Approval scheme, reflects an ambition to embed security thinking at every stage of development.
For manufacturers like Warrior Doors, the programme provides a common language between police advisers, designers, contractors and end users — one grounded in evidence rather than assumption.
“Secured by Design proves that security works best when it’s designed in, tested properly and verified independently,” Barratt concludes. “That’s as true for a high-rise development as it is for a secure control room. If we want resilient buildings, this is the direction the industry has to take.”
As the built environment becomes more complex and the stakes higher, frameworks like Secured by Design are no longer optional guidance. They are becoming a cornerstone of how the UK defines credible, future-proof security.
