When the police department in a midwestern city decided to update their bulletproof barriers, the city’s Facilities Director decided it would be an ideal time to improve the ballistic security across multiple municipal departments. City staff were increasingly concerned about the threat of concealed weapons and were ready to take steps to keep municipal workers safe. The facilities director reached out to TSS for assistance with planning, fabricating, and installing barriers for a total of six city departments.
As experts in large, specialized projects, the TSS team got right to work.
Hardening Physical Security for City Offices Takes Careful Planning
In a sizable project like this one, the number of people involved can add complexity to the planning process. The six different departments each had ideas for the bulletproof security upgrades—how they should look, function, and protect people. In the end, we decided on Level 3 barriers; Level 3 would offer protection from the city’s top concern, handguns, and fit their budget.
In order to start off on the right foot, TSS organized a pre-kickoff meeting to unify the stakeholders’ expectations. Because our customer had many interested parties—including the City Council, who were responsible for the plans’ final approval—we knew that building a high level of trust and rapport would be essential to the success of this project. Thankfully, we were able to work closely with the Facilities Director, who acted as the point person for both the City and our team.
While it is not always easy to get a group of people to align, by getting everyone’s buy-in from the start, we ensured there were no surprises about the final product.
Bulletproofing a Curved Reception Desk
The reception desk in one department presented a particular challenge. This desk was a large curve with multi-level countertops. Producing a bulletproof glass on a curve is a big challenge, but creating a curve that is elegant and doesn't “look” bulletproof can be even more difficult.
In order to maintain full visibility and minimize any psychological barriers for the public, the team needed a fully transparent design. We needed to accomplish this while meeting the curve of the desk, the various heights of the countertop, and an overhead soffit that was slightly misaligned from the curve of the desk.
The fabrication process for bulletproof glass involves laminating multiple panes together in a high-pressure oven. This makes it extremely difficult and cost-prohibitive to produce a curved pane. Instead, our team was able to find a cost-effective solution for the city by using flat panes to create a radius effect.
These panes needed custom geometry in order to match the counter level, while including two transaction windows. This meant no two panes of bulletproof glass could be identical, and every piece of the curve needed to be fully planned out. Most bulletproof glass cannot be altered in the field during construction, adding to the need for perfect planning.
Project management and engineering worked closely together to create an effective design that protected both the workers’ safety and their aesthetic preferences.
Installing the Final Product
One of the city’s priorities was maintaining the flow of operations and service. The TSS team only performed work when the municipal building was closed to the public. As a result, the timelines were tight, requiring thorough planning, efficiency, and on-the-fly problem solving.
That’s our specialty, so this was no sweat for TSS.
In the end, our time on-site was smooth. The city Facilities Director was impressed by our Project Manager’s knowledge and expertise during the installation process, as well as their patience and willingness to go above and beyond, put the Facility Director at ease as the project progressed.
At TSS, this is what sets us apart from the competition. Our customer experience, customization, and speed position us as industry leaders in ballistic security.
TSS: Leaders in Ballistic Security
We take ballistic security seriously. If you have a complex project, our dedicated team will work with you to find the best security solution for your specific facility, to fit your threat level and your budget. And if you have any questions, we’re always happy to help you gain a better understanding of our products, from fabrication to installation.
From the first inquiry to the final walk-through, we won’t stop until the fine details of the Safety + Aesthetics™ meet or exceed your expectations.
For more information or to get started with a quote, please contact us. We’ll make sure you get the data you need to make informed decisions about your building’s security.