Highlighter Summer2016

4 Pond | www.pondco.com S tudent and faculty safety on the academic campus is being reimagined across the nation. With the latest news stories and events that have unfolded over the past few years, now more than ever, parents demand learning environments that have quick response security measures in place. Students want the security, but not necessarily the continual vigilance that comes with it. While colleges and universities take student safety extremely seriously, they need to project their commitment out towards the community and to potential future students. Georgia Institute of Technology has all of these concerns, plus the added complexity of an urban campus within midtown Atlanta, open borders for practically anyone to traverse the campus. Recently, Pond was selected by Georgia Tech to help address this growing concerns with an exciting new project that will consolidate the hub of all campus security functions into a singular location. Since 1981, the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) has based in five locations with their main operations in the Gary F. Beringause Building, and today, with a staff of over 80 sworn officers and over 120 total employees, the GTPD protects a growing campus community of over 33,000 students, faculty and staff. The department now includes a Criminal Investigations Division, a K9 program, an Office of Emergency Preparedness, and other specialized units to protect the campus community. Additionally, the department monitors over 1,700 campus security cameras in its communications center, where dispatchers and student video technicians keep a careful eye on the campus. Constructing a new 30,000 square foot building will allow the GTPD to c o n s o l i d a t e a n d c r e a t e n ew technologically-advanced spaces and take advantage of modern-day workplace solutions to greatly enhance their impact without significantly increasing their space footprint. The project will also be a new gateway to the campus northwest sector. This facility will allow the campus to replace obsolete police facilities, consolidate the units into one location, and modernize the police functions. The Pond architecture team worked hard to learn about the client’s critical points for this specific project. With this knowledge, we then assembled a team of local consultants who also actively work with Georgia Tech to present a strong team that effectively addressed the programming of the public safety componen t , sus t a i nab i l i t y, and community presence. Designing a New Era for Campus Safety at Georgia Tech