NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Today's schools have seen some serious design upgrades from years past.
"When it's a private school or private university they do tend to rely on us a little bit more to provide that expertise," said Joshua Hughes, partner at Anecdote Architectural Experiences. The firm works with several schools across Middle Tennessee.
"There's a heightened sensitivity, clearly, with all the school shootings that have happened over the past 15, 20 years," Hughes said.
AI technology and lock systems are just some of the designs Hughes incorporates for schools.
"Another product that we've started implementing on projects is a safety film," he said.
Safety film is a thin clear material that adheres to the glass. It's more affordable than bulletproof glass, making it a popular option for schools, homes and businesses.
"The bullet still goes through it so we always want to point that out that safety film is not bulletproof," said Dave Andrews, president of Solar Insulation. "So it's two levels of security, but this will keep people from coming in through the doors but it's not going to keep bullets from going through."
Since The Covenant School shooting, Andrews said phone calls for safety film have been constant.
"The glass — it's gonna break, it's gonna spiderweb. It'll be harder to see through, but it's going to stay in place so the person is not going to have entry into the building," said Andrews.
While the glass is not bulletproof, he said it does buy you some time, possibly saving more lives in the future.
"That's the idea is to keep them moving or they have too much trouble and then they go away," said Andrews.
