Planning a secure facility involves much more than designing to Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 705.
The greatest challenge is uncertainty.
Security requirements often evolve throughout the life of a project. Programs change. Government contracts change. Accrediting Officials (AOs) may establish new or revised requirements. Security standards are updated. Even the governing criteria can change before construction is complete.
For many owners, especially those developing their first secure facility, the biggest challenge isn’t designing the space. Instead, it’s understanding what questions to ask, who establishes the requirements, and how to manage changes without affecting schedule, budget, or accreditation.
That’s where experience matters.
Successful secure facilities are built on continuous coordination among the owner, the AO, security consultants, and the design team. ICD 705 provides the baseline, but successful projects depend on understanding how project-specific requirements evolve from there.
Key Takeaways:
- Why ICD 705 is only the starting point.
- How AOs shape project requirements.
- Why secure facility requirements evolve throughout a project.
- How experienced architects help owners navigate uncertainty.
- Why planning for future missions protects long-term investment.
Secure Facilities Begin with the Mission
Secure spaces are increasingly being incorporated into federal, aerospace & defense, advanced manufacturing, research, and technology facilities. They may include offices, engineering labs, testing environments, manufacturing areas, data centers, high bays, and other specialized spaces.
The appropriate level of protection depends on the work being performed and the information being handled. A client may know that a program involves sensitive work without yet knowing what type of secure environment(s) will be required. That is why early planning should begin with the mission.
Ask the Right Questions Early
Who is sponsoring the program? What type of information will be used or stored? Which employees, contractors and visitors need access? Will the space support a single contract or several programs over time? Will operations run continuously or only during certain hours? These discussions help establish the project’s mission, allowing the AO to define the appropriate security requirements and accreditation path while giving the design team the information needed to begin planning the facility.
Understand Who Establishes the Requirements
One of the most important decision makers is the AO. Representing the sponsoring government agency, the AO helps establish the project’s security requirements, reviews documentation, conducts inspections and ultimately accredits the space for its intended use. The AO’s role extends well beyond facility approvals. Their interpretation of project-specific security requirements can influence programming, design, and construction.
One Facility May Involve Multiple AOs
There can also be multiple AOs on a project if the building contains multiple secure areas. As a result, the spaces can require different criteria, construction assemblies, and accreditation requirements.
On one previous project, we had four secure areas within the same building, each supporting a different government program. Every one of those spaces had its own AO, which meant different security requirements, different design criteria, and a separate accreditation process.”
– Lauren Sanford, SCIF + Secure Space Design Specialist / McMillan Pazdan Smith
The owner’s role is to work with the AO and sponsoring agency. The architect’s expertise lies in translating those evolving requirements into a coordinated, constructible, and flexible facility. An experienced design team can help clients anticipate security requirements early, coordinate with consultants and contractors, and avoid costly redesigns or delays during the accreditation process.
Confirm the Requirements, and Keep Confirming Them
ICD 705 establishes the baseline for secure facility design, but it is rarely the end of the conversation. Secure facility requirements often continue to evolve as a project moves forward. Individual sponsoring agencies and AOs often supplement those requirements based on the mission, site, program, or perceived risks. Requirements related to acoustic protection, access control, intrusion detection, mechanical systems, communications, radiofrequency shielding, or construction assemblies may differ from one project to another.
Requirements Can Change Mid-Project
A government contract may change. A new mission may be introduced. A different AO may assume responsibility and interpret a requirement differently. Security consultants may refine recommendations as more information becomes available.
Even a basis-of-design document can lose relevance if the program or governing criteria shift during design or construction. Rather than relying on assumptions established early in the project, teams should continually verify requirements with the owner, AO, and other government stakeholders throughout the project.
Establish Clear Decision-Making Authority
Before design advances, owners should confirm:
- Whether an AO has been assigned.
- Which agency is sponsoring the project.
- Which standards and revisions apply.
- Whether the AO has requirements beyond the baseline.
- Who has authority to approve changes.
- How decisions will be documented and communicated.
Resolving these questions early helps establish a shared understanding of what the facility must accomplish. Even then, those answers should not be treated as permanent.
Successful teams establish regular checkpoints to review direction from the AO, requirements, governing standards, consultant recommendations, and changes that affect other disciplines. That ongoing coordination helps prevent outdated assumptions from reaching construction or accreditation, when they can be more expensive and disruptive to correct.
Secure Design Impacts the Entire Facility
Secure design extends far beyond walls, doors, and access control. It influences how people work, how technology operates, and how nearly every building system is designed.
Program the Relationship Between Secure and Unclassified Spaces
Early programming is critical because it helps the design team understand not only the project’s technical security requirements, but also how secure and unclassified spaces will function together. McMillan Pazdan Smith uses secure facility programming questionnaires tailored to each project. The questionnaire helps identify operational workflows, user access, technology needs, and future growth, giving the team the information needed to develop layouts that support the mission while minimizing disruptions to daily operations.
Those decisions affect virtually every building system — including electrical redundancy, backup power, grounding, HVAC, fire protection, telecommunications, cybersecurity, and structural design. Operational needs such as acoustical privacy, specialized equipment, future expansion, and mission-specific workflows also shape the facility.
Design for the People Performing the Mission
Just as importantly, the workplace must support the people performing the mission. Depending on the program, that may mean creating spaces for collaboration, focused work, specialized equipment, extended shifts, or continuous operations. Good planning brings these operational, technical, and human considerations together from the very beginning.
Consider Tomorrow’s Mission, Not Just Today’s Contract
In a rapidly evolving technology and defense environment, a facility can support a very different mission five or 10 years from now. That uncertainty means owners should evaluate how much flexibility should be incorporated into the facility to support future programs. New security levels, operating models, or government requirements often lead to costly reconstruction when flexibility was not considered during the original design.
Build in the Right Level of Flexibility
For some owners, it makes sense to prepare portions of the facility for the highest reasonably anticipated security requirements, even when those spaces do not yet have an assigned program or mission. That might include infrastructure or utility capacity for secure areas as mission needs evolve.
That does not mean every project should be designed to the most restrictive possible standard. The right approach depends on the owner’s anticipated contract pipeline, the likelihood of future mission changes, the cost of building in flexibility now, and the disruption that later construction could create within an operating secure facility.
A More Reliable Path to Accreditation
Planning a secure facility isn’t simply about understanding ICD 705. It’s about managing change.
Programs evolve. Security requirements change. Standards are updated. AOs interpret requirements differently, and owners often enter the process without knowing which questions to ask. That’s why the most valuable expertise isn’t simply knowing ICD 705. It’s knowing how to guide owners through a process where requirements, stakeholders, and missions continue to evolve.
An experienced design team helps owners navigate uncertainty, coordinate the right stakeholders, anticipate change, and translate evolving security requirements into facilities that support today’s mission while remaining adaptable for tomorrow’s opportunities.
ICD 705 provides the baseline. Experience provides the path.
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