The design of the British shopfront is taking on a greater security role as retailers respond to organised theft, violent attacks and the use of vehicles to gain access to high-value premises. Recent incidents involving jewellery stores have illustrated the speed with which an attack can unfold. Vehicles can provide offenders with a means of breaching a conventional frontage within seconds, placing greater emphasis on the physical construction of entrances and the layers of protection around them.
For Birmingham-based security door manufacturer Warrior Doors, the changing environment is influencing conversations with retailers, architects and property owners at an increasingly early stage. Managing Director Brett Barratt believes security is becoming a more integral part of how a retail frontage is designed.
“The entrance to a retail premises has to perform several jobs,” he said. “It needs to work efficiently throughout the trading day, look appropriate for the environment and provide a serious level of protection for the people and assets behind it.
“We are seeing much more consideration being given to the complete frontage and how each element works together.”
That approach extends from the pavement through to the most valuable areas of a building. External measures can provide vehicle mitigation before an attacker reaches the entrance, while security doors and controlled-access systems create further physical protection around the building envelope. Within high-value retail environments, time-lock doors, airlock systems and secure display vaults can provide additional layers around staff, customers and stock.
Warrior Doors manufactures its security products in Birmingham, giving the company control over the engineering and fabrication of systems designed for individual sites. Its work spans jewellery and luxury retail alongside commercial buildings, education and other locations requiring enhanced physical security.
The appearance of those systems has also become an important part of the brief. Luxury retailers invest heavily in architecture, materials, lighting and customer experience. Security therefore has to sit comfortably within that environment. Stainless steel construction, bespoke finishes and purpose-built designs allow physical protection to become part of the architecture rather than an addition to it.
Barratt said this was particularly relevant when Warrior works with jewellers and high-value retailers.
“A customer walking into a luxury store should see a high-quality retail environment,” he said. “Behind that appearance can be a considerable amount of engineering. Our job is to understand how the premises operates and build security into it in a way that works every day.”
The same thinking is increasingly extending beyond the doorway itself. Recent ram-raid incidents have demonstrated the value of considering the journey from the street to the stock rather than treating individual security products in isolation. The position of a vehicle, the strength of the frontage, access through the entrance and protection around high-value merchandise can all influence how a premises performs during an attempted attack.
For Barratt, that is where physical security design is heading.
“Good security comes from understanding the building as a whole,” he said. “When the different layers are designed to work together, the shopfront itself becomes an important part of the security system.”
