Environmental Design in Scotland

Environmental design in Scotland is used to reduce risk and improve safety by shaping how spaces are laid out, accessed, and used. This approach supports informed decision-making before physical security, enforcement, or reactive measures are introduced, particularly where poor design contributes to vulnerability or unwanted behaviour.

At Dion International, environmental design is applied selectively and proportionately. The objective is not to redesign spaces unnecessarily, but to identify practical adjustments that influence behaviour, improve visibility, and reduce opportunity for harm or misuse.

Design, Layout & Risk Environments

Across Scotland, environmental design considerations apply to a wide range of settings, including residential developments, commercial premises, public spaces, estates, transport areas, and mixed-use sites. Factors such as layout, lighting, sightlines, access routes, and boundary definition can significantly influence how spaces are perceived and used.

In some environments, risk arises not from deliberate intent but from design features that limit visibility, create unmanaged access points, or encourage congregation in unsuitable areas. In others, poor layout may undermine existing security measures or place unnecessary demand on staffing or enforcement.

Where uncertainty exists around how a space contributes to risk, environmental design may be used to identify adjustments that support safer, more controlled use without reliance on constant supervision.

How Environmental Design Is Applied

Each instruction is assessed individually to determine whether environmental design measures are appropriate and likely to provide meaningful clarity or improvement. Assessment focuses on how people move through and interact with the space, and where design features may unintentionally enable risk.

Design considerations are then focused on the specific issues identified, such as improving natural surveillance, clarifying access routes, strengthening territorial boundaries, or reducing concealed areas. The emphasis remains on practical, proportionate changes rather than large-scale redevelopment.

Observations are considered objectively and in context. Throughout, the focus remains on clarity, relevance, and proportionality, ensuring that environmental design supports safer use of space and informed decisions about any further security or management measures.

Benefits

• Reduce risk through practical design adjustments.
• Improve visibility and natural surveillance in any environment.
• Support safer use of spaces.

• Limit reliance on reactive security measures.
• Apply proportionate, cost-effective improvements.
• Inform planning and management.