MUSEUM SECURITY
Museum Security
Museums have a unique set of characteristics that make security and safety requirements different from those of other buildings. They must simultaneously accomplish two things: on the one hand, they must safeguard precious objects and protect patrons; on the other hand, they must remain open to the public and be designed in a welcoming way that lets visitors feel relaxed and focus entirely on the museum experience. Traditional “defense-in-depth” security is knowingly compromised because of the need to let patrons come near valuable assets, so a more innovative approach to security is required.
Good security in a museum is minimally intrusive but must also be maximally effective. Criminal gangs have aggressively targeted museums, and art theft remains a highly profitable criminal enterprise: losses from art theft are estimated at over USD$4 billion per year. Recovery of lost art is unlikely, with only 15 to 30 percent of high value paintings typically recovered, so prevention and protection are essential. Good safety must also be inherent in museum design, protecting both the museum’s treasures and its visitors and staff.
Good Harbor works with the world’s leading museum architects, as well as museum owners and operators, on a strategic approach to security and safety. As a security risk management planner, Good Harbor is equipment vendor neutral and tailors its recommendations to the needs and requirements of each museum.
Good Harbor Consulting has designed security and safety for numerous, diverse projects, including the following:
- a $10 billion dollar, three museum complex
- a temporary exhibit of modern artists Rauschenberg, Ruscha, Serra, Twombly, Warhol, and Wood
- an on campus museum at a Ivy League university
- museums of art, science, history, and religion
Stolen Art
or Saliera, was stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 2003.
Services and Approach
Good Harbor develops safety, security, and emergency management solutions for museums and other cultural institutions using an inclusive approach that considers the overall sustainability of the museum or cultural enterprise.
Good Harbor’s risk management approach provides a refreshingly inclusive outlook: we balance safety and security requirements with operational realities to deliver effective solutions that enable, rather than hinder, the museum and cultural experience. Good Harbor works with architects and museum planners to influence layouts vertically and horizontally and to design zoning and site layout to make the building as inherently safe and secure as possible, before applying additional security solutions.
We also use our combined expertise in safety and security to reconcile tensions between these disciplines. While safety emphasizes quick and unobstructed access and egress, security often requires the opposite. Good Harbor’s innovative approach uses specific risk scenarios and an inclusive approach to assess design and to ensure that a museum’s fire and life safety strategy is developed in tandem with its security strategy so that both are achieved.
Good Harbor’s safety and security services are strengthened by our in-depth understanding of museum insurance requirements: Good Harbor has experience with Global Risk Art Survey Platform (GRASP) and successfully worked with a high-profile museum client to achieve full insurance coverage on short notice.
As a security consulting company, Good Harbor offers much more than analysis, overview, and diagnosis of a museum’s overall physical and operational security.
Our approach emphasizes knowledge transfer: throughout the project life cycle, our subject matter and technical experts work closely with museum project teams to distill project security requirements, assist with the procurement and commissioning of security systems, and provide follow-on services, such as training and development of policies and procedures. With the right planning, museums can seamlessly integrate many security measures into the building design. By working closely and collaboratively with our clients, we gain a better understanding of their operations, philosophies, and risk profile. Through effective knowledge transfer of expertise, we also help organizations enhance their ability to operate their safety and security programs independently.
Good Harbor is vendor-neutral, so when we recommend solutions or technologies, our clients know they are getting an unbiased solution that will work best for their needs. We have chosen to remain a small, specialist consultancy to better dedicate ourselves to our clients and honor commitments in a timely and discreet manner. We provide resilient, cost-effective solutions for risk mitigation that are tailored to each client based on their specific threats, vulnerabilities, and needs.
Strategic Consulting Services
Good Harbor helps organizations implement the most resilient and cost effective solutions through the following offerings:
Planning and Design Services
- Threat, vulnerability and risk assessment of primary locations and surrounding areas
- Asset and risk registration
- Identification of user and program requirements
- Determination of interrelationships
- Physical security audits and assessments
- Operational and organizational audits and assessments
- Review and development of policies and procedures
Master Planning
- Comprehensive security planning addressing identified risks through spatial, physical design and technological measures
- Development of project-specific guidelines for master planners, design consultants and third party developers
- Development of safety and security management programs, policies, procedures and operational requirements
Comprehensive Design Development
- Translation of security requirements into usable plans and drawings
- Design team coordination
- System cost estimates
- Vendor neutral alternative analysis or current system integration recommendations
- CAD, Revit and Google Sketch-Up modeling
Security Engineering Construction Documents
- Integrated drawings, diagrams and schedules
- System specifications
- Continuous design team engagement
- Technology tender package standardization and development, issue, review and award
Construction, Implementation and Commissioning
- Serving as owner’s representative
- Submittal review and approval
- Monitor systems installation and punch list
- Vendor neutral technology commissioning and acceptance
- Training, table-top and field exercises
- Policies and procedures development and implementation
- Security audits and business continuity development
Case Studies
Good Harbor has proven experience providing security consulting services to museums of varying sizes, types, and risk profiles – from small museums on university campuses to major, iconic museums in higher-risk international locales – and focuses its services to meet the needs of each individual client.
Louvre-Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Good Harbor participated in the Louvre Abu Dhabi planning workshops and provided risk assessment, vulnerability analysis, and protection strategies to the organizing Tourism Development & Investment Company on the proposed design for the Louvre Museum. The workshop served to develop a security design concept and design basis threat.Samsung Museum & Art Hall, Samsung Corporation, Seoul, Korea
Good Harbor designed a complete security program for a multi-facility community in the heart of the Hannam Dong section of Seoul. The project included a world-class museum and museum art hall designed by Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel and Rem Koolhaas. The project consisted of a complete protection security program for the entire site, integrating a corporate risk and requirements analysis for all facilities with an initial design concept.
Adams National Historic Museum, Quincy, MA
Good Harbor was selected to provide security analyseis, design, and engineering services for the Adams National Historic site, including the birthplaces of John Adams and John Quincy Adams as well as the Presidential Home. We reviewed and analyzed architectural plans, prepared a conceptual security plan for the site and buildings, completed a full security systems design, and prepared engineering drawing designs and specifications for bid.Brown/RISD Hillel, Glenn and Darcy Weiner Center, The Brown Hillel Foundation, Providence, Rhode Island
Good Harbor was selected to provide security analysis, design, and engineering services for Brown/RISD Hillel Center on the campus in Providence, RI. We reviewed and analyzed architectural plans and prepared a conceptual security plan for the site and building under development. Good Harbor was then contracted for the following tasks: design security systems; analyze facility and systems vulnerabilities; develop design criteria for systems and equipment; and, prepare engineering drawing designs and specifications for bid and construction administration.Guggenheim-Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Good Harbor participated in planning workshops for the Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi and provided security design feedback to the Tourism Development & Investment Company. The workshop served to develop a security design concept and design basis threat. Good Harbor provided additional feedback including developing a conceptual of operation for vehicular control and developing the concept for layout of a security screening facility on the mainland to screen vehicles prior to their entering the tunnel to the museum.Longfellow National Historic Museum, Cambridge, MA
Good Harbor was selected to provide security design services for the Longfellow National Historic site. We prepared a conceptual security plan for the site and building. Good Harbor was contracted for additional work to complete full security systems design, prepare engineering drawing designs and specifications for bid, and oversee construction administration.
The Good Harbor Team
Good Harbor's strength is the perspective and experience of its team: we are led by partners and principals who have managed some of the most pressing safety and security issues of the day, among them crisis response to the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Our team includes security strategy and operations specialists, emergency managers, architects, Certified Protection Professionals, Physical Security Professionals, and degreed and board certified engineers. Our security professionals have demonstrated experience in the private sector and in local, state, and national government across a range of disciplines: crisis and emergency management; business continuity; urban planning; infrastructure protection; cyber security; public transport; commercial and corporate security risk management, loss prevention, and insurance; and engineering, including management of large-scale engineering service projects and security systems (e.g. access controls, perimeter intrusion detection systems, barriers/fencing, video surveillance and assessment, lighting upgrades, and communications and power systems).
As a measure of our success, we are frequently asked by our clients to implement the strategies that we have helped develop, resulting in our teams forming long-term partnerships with our clients as we build capacity for them, and with them.
