For Projects · Service
CPTED & Place-Based
Safety
The most effective security in a public place is the security you can't see. Our CPTED consultants work inside the design process, translating crime data, sightlines, and movement patterns into spatial decisions.
The premise
Security measures that make places feel hostile defeat their own purpose. Fences, cameras, and barriers signal danger, reducing foot traffic, undermining activation, and creating the empty, unsurveilled spaces that crime exploits.
Our CPTED analysis works in the opposite direction: we design natural surveillance, territorial definition, and movement patterns into the spatial layout itself. The result is places that are safer and more liveable, because the two are not in tension when the analysis is done properly.
What you get
What design-integrated CPTED delivers
Construction-ready specificity, not general principles
We specify glazing interlayer thicknesses, lighting categories per zone, lock standards, and furniture detailing, not abstract CPTED principles.
Security calibrated to culture and context
Different places have different thresholds for how security should feel. We develop purpose-built calibration tools that map security measures against the specific culture and activation goals of each place, enabling decision-makers to see trade-offs clearly and choose a security posture that fits their context, not a generic specification.
Scalable frameworks, not one-off reports
We build security frameworks designed to scale across property portfolios: zone-by-zone applicability, site-agnostic principles with site-specific overlays, and operational modes that adapt to different hours and event conditions. Clear evidence trails that satisfy planning authorities and assurance requirements.
Method
How we work
Place-based safety starts with understanding how people actually use a space, not how a plan says they should. We combine site analysis, crime data review, and design assessment to produce recommendations that fit the project's spatial and social context. Our advice integrates into architectural and landscape design processes, written for design teams as much as for security managers.
For: Project directors, urban designers, architects, and planning authorities working on public realm, transport precincts, mixed-use developments, and civic spaces.
Commissioning
Commissioning a CPTED assessment
A planning submission and a design-development review need different levels of detail. Start with the decision the assessment must support and the design information available at that stage.
Bring to the first conversation
Bring the site address, current plans, proposed uses and operating hours, and any planning condition or authority request. Identify the submission date and the person coordinating the design response.
Agree the scope
Agree the site boundary, assessment stage, site visit requirements, and whether the commission includes design workshops or a review of revised drawings. Name the report and drawing outputs required for the submission.
Name the responsibilities
Identify who will translate recommendations into architecture, landscape, lighting and operations. Agree how design responses will be recorded and which changes require further security review.
In practice
See this in practice
Talk to a principal
Thirty minutes with a principal to work out whether the project needs us.