If you were building a house...

[Skribs]

Not that I currently have the funds to have one built for me or the skills to build one, but if, down the road I am able to get a house built for ME, I was wondering what the defense-conscious architect would think up.

I'm not talking about what people generally consider hardening the home (i.e. heavy doors, peepholes, lights, cameras, and a dog), but rather how you would plan the layout of the home in order to be prepared to defend it. The issue comes up because I see a lot of posts where people talk about how they have to run all over the house to grab their kids or something similar.

So, while it's kind of open for whatever sort of input you have, at the moment I'm thinking of:
Would bay windows be a good option to make it easier to see the outside of the door before opening?
Are more points of entry to the home (not the safe room) a good thing or a bad thing?
Are more avenues through the home a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[Kleanbore]

Interesting system engineering problem.

One would have to specify or trade some "performance" characteristics (eg, energy consumption, useable square feet, and so on); maintainability issues; and cost, initial and operating.

To answer the specific questions posed by the OP, one would simply apply traditional risk management techniques. But: the home defense aspect would only address some of the risks. Fire protection/survival, storms, and so forth would have to be figured in, or one might end up with a veritable fortress from which it would be difficult to escape.

 

[Skribs]

To answer the specific questions posed by the OP, one would simply apply traditional risk management techniques. But: the home defense aspect would only address some of the risks. Fire protection/survival, storms, and so forth would have to be figured in, or one might end up with a veritable fortress from which it would be difficult to escape.

Very interesting. I do think some things would benefit both home invasion and disaster, such as placing bedrooms closer to each other, instead of at opposite ends of the house.

You showed me the question is more complex than I had originally intended it to be, but it all fits within the scope of a safety-conscious home.

 

[WardenWolf]

Keep in mind that points of entry also mean points of escape in case of fire or other emergency. Bay windows are often weak points for breakins, unless they are reinforced with bars or similar.

For safety, you would want the bedrooms to be in the same general area of the house, ideally on the second floor. This allows you to control or deny access via the stairway. You also would want a means of escape from this area in case of emergency, such as with a window-deployable ladder.

For general living areas, an open floorplan is best. Being able to see farther both limits places to hide as well as limits viable angles of approach. You do NOT want to get flanked. Hallways where a person can disappear out of sight are a big no-no.

 

[Bubbles]

A while back I read about design features used in places like South Africa. I wish I'd saved the full article, but there were two things I did remember:

- Mantraps at ground level entrances. If at the rear of the house or from the garage, make it a mud room. For the front entryway, make it a foyer that can be closed off. If the home is in a northern climate it also makes sense as you don't lose a ton of heat from the home during the winter whenever you open the exterior door. The interior door(s) can then be locked from the inside the home at night. If you really want to keep bad guys out, there are OC/CS foggers that are motion-activated and will trigger unless a code is entered after 30-60 seconds; install one in each mantrap.

- Lockable doors at both the bottom and top of the stairs leading to the upstairs bedrooms. The master bedroom door is closest to the top of the stairs so that any intruders have to get past the parents to reach the children.

 

[Skribs]

Interesting points, Bubbles. What is a OC/CS fogger?

 

[Surf]

Here is an interesting design for ideas.

http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2010/05/safe-house-in-poland-is-modern-fortress.html

 

[Kleanbore]

I think that with the above replies, we have discussed this in about as much depth as is appropriate for a discussion of residential architecture on THR.

 

[Fred Fuller]

One possible source for materials that might be worth considering as well - http://www.joelskousen.com/Secure/recommended.html