Now-a-days buildings are not known only for their aesthetics and strength but also the security it provides its inhabitants. When one hears about bombings, hijacks, robberies; it is important that the building offers maximum protection. Here are 10 buildings which will make you feel that the world is a better place to be in!
The Jewel House in the Tower of London houses priceless treasures of England’s past and present rulers. Its collection includes crowns and scepters of Queen Victoria, Elizabeth etc. A Major General controls the security of the Jewel House. A dedicated control room provides constant monitoring of the Jewel House, while additional £4.5 million has been spent on fire safety and security. The jewels are encased in 2-inch thick shatter-proof glass and there is constant security provided by the Tower Guard and the Yeoman Warders and is regarded as one of the most secure buildings in the world.
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#10
Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC), Australia
The HQJOC is a 28,000sq.m area building that houses the strategic and operational staff from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Special Forces. The facility is built in such a way so that it is self-sufficient in times of emergency without compromising the operations of the employees.
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#9
Guantanamo Bay Prison Camp, Cuba
A parody to the title but well, it keeps prisoners locked in; this prison is the most isolated and heavily fortified prison in the world. It was built to house terrorists from the Al-Qaeda network. This prison is constantly guarded by heavily armed military guards and marines. It is also surrounded by 70,000 minefields, swamps and the ocean making escape virtually impossible. However, due to its unpopularity in treatment of its prisoners, the prison will be closed.
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#8
The White House, Washington D.C
The White House is the official residence of the President of the United States of America, the White House is under constant surveillance against threats, nuisances, crowd management etc. The security of the White House is under the United States Secret Service and United States Park Police. The White House is not open to visitors for added security.
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#7
Buckingham Palace, England
The Buckingham Palace is the home of the Royal family of England and is also a highly secured palace. The Royal Family have their own armed guards at all times and the famous sentriesguard the palace at all times. The palace also has its own police station. The Foot Guards Battalion at Wellington Barracks and Chelsea Barracks units and Hyde Park Barrack units are on the stand-by and minutes away if required in case of emergency.
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#6
Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty Building, Czech Republic
The building in existence since May 2009 is considered as one of the most secure buildings in the world. Radio Liberty provides free press to people in countries where free press is banned, thus making its journalists and freelancers vulnerable to threats their lives. They are also favorite targets of terrorists. These concerns have been taken into consideration when constructing the state-of-the-art building. It also has elaborate security measures in place to provide safety to its employees.
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#5
Empire State Building, New York
The Empire State building is an office building which proves to be very safe for its inhabitants. This 102 storied building is the 15th tallest building in the world is built in a steel frame and is clad in Indiana limestone and granite. It has been constructed to withstand high intensity winds and earthquakes to make it safer for the 21,000 employees that work in the building. Strict security measures are enforced for the safety of all the people in the building. Security checks are a must, while visitors can only enter with a valid ticket, every visitor must pass walk-through scanners.
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#4
Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, Los Angeles
A literal case in point is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, which is constructed using the base isolation tool in earthquake engineering, which is one of the most powerful and cost-effective technologies till date. This Church can house 3,000 worshippers at a time thus protecting them against any earthquake threats.
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#3
AT&T Long Lines Building, New York
This 167.95 m building has been built with the sole purpose to protect its sensitive and expensive telephone equipment. It is ‘windowless’ and its exterior walls are constructed of granite-facedprecast concrete panels. This brutalist style of architecture was utilized so that it’s self-sufficient and protected from nuclear fallout for up to two weeks after a nuclear blast.
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#2
Jewel House, Tower of London
The Jewel House in the Tower of London houses priceless treasures of England’s past and present rulers. Its collection includes crowns and scepters of Queen Victoria, Elizabeth etc. A Major General controls the security of the Jewel House. A dedicated control room provides constant monitoring of the Jewel House, while additional £4.5 million has been spent on fire safety and security. The jewels are encased in 2-inch thick shatter-proof glass and there is constant security provided by the Tower Guard and the Yeoman Warders and is regarded as one of the most secure buildings in the world.
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#1
Pentagon, Washington
Headquarters of the US Department of Defense, the ‘Pentagon’ is considered as the one of the highly secured buildings in the world. The security of the 280 acre building is under the Pentagon Force Protection Agency which comprises federal police officers, Untied States Pentagon Police, expert technicians and anti-terrorism investigative and security personnel. The security is very tight with various identification and references required to enter the building. The Defense for Public Affairs department conducts tours giving insight into this industry.
Princess Juliana International Airport (Saint Martin)
Princess Juliana International Airport serves Saint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. It is the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean.
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (Saba)
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba, in the Netherlands Antilles. It is well known among experienced fliers for the way in which airplanes must approach or take off from the airport.
Courchevel (France)
Courchevel is the name of a ski area located in the French Alps, the largest linked ski area in the world. It’s airport has a certain degree of infamy in the aviation industry as home to a relatively short runway, with a length of 525 m (1,722 ft) and a gradient of 18.5%. It’s so short that you have to land on an inclined strip to slow down and take off on a decline to pick up enough speed.
Princess Juliana International Airport serves Saint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. It is the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean.
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (Saba)
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba, in the Netherlands Antilles. It is well known among experienced fliers for the way in which airplanes must approach or take off from the airport.
Courchevel (France)
Courchevel is the name of a ski area located in the French Alps, the largest linked ski area in the world. It’s airport has a certain degree of infamy in the aviation industry as home to a relatively short runway, with a length of 525 m (1,722 ft) and a gradient of 18.5%. It’s so short that you have to land on an inclined strip to slow down and take off on a decline to pick up enough speed.
1.Heartbreaking: Thai Man Marries Dead Girlfriend


Ellie Barton and Phil Hendicott decided to spend their wedding in theirbirthday suits. The pair of exhibitionist Aussies exchanged vows in front of 250 guests wearing nothing more than their wedding rings - and a bouquet of strategically-placed roses. Mrs. Ellie Hendicott wore a white, painted on "dress." The only thing she really wore besides the bouquet was a long whitewedding veil. Phil Hendicott wore nothing but a black top hat to cover his manhood. The wedding ceremony was conducted in the morning, live on FM radio to hundreds of thousands of Australians. (Link)

Jeroen and Sandra Kippers of Brussels, Belgium, were lifted on a platform by crane up 160 feet in the air for their wedding ceremony. They were joined by the officiant and about 20 guests. Another platform held the musicians. After the vows, they made it official by bungee-jumping over the side! The company behind the nutty nuptials – Marriage In The Sky – have been inundated with requests from couples desperate to fling themselves off the end of the aisle.
But the ultimate thrill-seekers' wedding doesn't have to end there – once the wedding party have all been lowered back to earth, guests can head skywards again – for a floating reception. Wedding guests are wowed with a three-course wedding breakfast – all while strapped in to the dining chairs. The cost for such a spectacular ceremony? Around £25,000.(Link 1 | Link 2 | Via)

The bride from Guangzhou, China, set the world's longest bridal train record at 219 yards. The Chinese bride accented her gown with a train that was over 600 ft long and weighed over 220 lbs. Xie Qiyun had this photos taken in front of a hotel in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province on her special day. According to Guinness, the longest wedding dress train measured 1362 m [4468 ft 5.94 in] and was created by Andreas Evstratiou in Paphos, Cyprus, in February 2007. (Link)
5.The couple who got married at T.J. Maxx

Who doesn't get excited about the prospect of bagging a bargain? Bride Lisa Satayut decided to combine that feeling with her excitement over bagging her beau. Explaining that T.J. Maxx is her “happy place,” Satayut married Drew Ellis in the size 8 shoe aisle of a T.J. Maxx store in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. The bride — a self-proclaimed “'Maxxinista” — wore a strapless white chiffon gown, with long black gloves and bright green gladiator-style sandals. A widened aisle, vine-covered arch and white chairs with red bows highlighted the traditional ceremony that included string music, display-dodging cameramen — and curious shoppers who stopped bargain hunting long enough to watch.

Groom Xiao Wang spent a year's salary on buying 99,999 red roses for his bride, Xiao Liu, for their wedding conducted in Chongqing, central China, where the number 999 is considered to be a good luck omen. The couple, both 24 years old, needed 30 cars to take the flowers to the service. They advertised on the internet for car owners and for helpers to stick the flowers on the vehicles. The flowers themselves were flown in from the other side of the country. 'I remembered that Liu loved these special roses and the ideajust grew and grew. It was worth it all just to see the look on her face when she saw the cars,' said groom Wang. Liu who met Wang while they were at University together added, 'I mentioned a year ago I would like a romantic wedding; I can't believe he remembered, but it was amazing.' The groom also donated 20% of the cost of the roses to charity to get even more good luck.(Link)

A heartbroken mother decided to "marry" her murdered fiancé in a hospital morgue. Irish father-of-two Kevin Lavelle, 29, was viciously battered with an iron bar in a gruesome gang attack while working away from home to raise money for his wedding to fiancée Michelle Thomas. The caring dad was attacked by nine louts and beaten to death as he returned to his lodgings in Banbury, Oxfordshire. But even death could not keep him and Michelle apart.
Despite her unbearable pain, Michelle organised a "wedding" in the morgue of Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, where Kevin lay dead. The touching ceremony - witnessed by close family and friends - was conducted by the hospital's Catholic priest who administered the last rites to Kevin. In front of an open coffin, the priest blessed the wedding rings that Michelle had bought specially for the service. Their two children, James, now five, and Megan, now four, went to their daddy's funeral wearing the clothes they would have worn to their parents' wedding. The priest asked Michelle if she would have taken Kevin to be her "lawful wedded husband" and she replied "I do." Kevin's dad Paddy placed a ring on Michelle's finger and a ring was placed on Kevin's finger as he lay in the coffin.(Link 1 | Link 2)

April Pignataro and Michael Curry of New York City got married in June 2010. The bride wore a white wetsuit and the groom wore a traditional black wetsuit as they climbed inside a 120,000 gallon shark tank to take their vows at Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, N.Y. Both are experienced divers and were protected by a cage as sand sharks, nurse sharks, eels and a giant grouper circled around. They wore scuba gear and mikes that broadcasted their words to each other, as well as to friends and family. They said their “I dos” over a radio transmitter with an officiant who did not get in the tank.
(Link | Via)

A couple of bicycle lovers decided to tie the knot in a very unusual but healthy way: by riding bicycles all over the city, accompanied of course by their cyclist guests. (Link)

Did you know that there's a Guinness World Record for the most bridesmaids in a wedding? One bride from Proctorville, Ohio, broke the record with more than 100 bridesmaids at her June 11, 2010 wedding. Jill Stapleton, who owns Jill's Tumble World, a dance school, asked her students -- all 110 of them -- to be her bridesmaids and walk down the aisle at her wedding. The bride asked each girl to choose her own dress for the weddingin either purple or teal, the school's colors. In lieu of bridesmaid bouquets, each bridesmaid carried a
In this tragic love story from Thailand, a man decided to go ahead with the wedding he and his girlfriend had planned, even though she sadly died in a car crash, just day before the big event.
29-year old Sarinya Kamsook and her 28-year-old boyfriend, Chadil Deffy, were to be married this year. A wedding is considered the most special event of a woman’s life and it was no different for Sarinya. She was eagerly counting the days to the moment when she would finally say ‘I do’, along with the love of her life, but fate had other plans for the young couple. Merely days before the wedding, Sarinya was involved in a car crash, leaving her severely injured. She still could have been saved with timely medical attention. However, the doctors made her wait for 6 hours due to an overcrowded ICU instead of transferring her to another hospital. During this time, she succumbed to her injuries and passed away.
2. Tto get married with no clothes in front of 250 guestshe couple who decided
3.The couple who got married on a Bung-jump platform – and obviously jumped after saying yes
But the ultimate thrill-seekers' wedding doesn't have to end there – once the wedding party have all been lowered back to earth, guests can head skywards again – for a floating reception. Wedding guests are wowed with a three-course wedding breakfast – all while strapped in to the dining chairs. The cost for such a spectacular ceremony? Around £25,000.(Link 1 | Link 2 | Via)
4. The Chinese bride who wore a 200m-long dress to set a World record
5.The couple who got married at T.J. Maxx
6. The groom who decorated his wedding with 99,999 roses to surprise his bride
7. The woman who married her dead fiancé in the morgue
Despite her unbearable pain, Michelle organised a "wedding" in the morgue of Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, where Kevin lay dead. The touching ceremony - witnessed by close family and friends - was conducted by the hospital's Catholic priest who administered the last rites to Kevin. In front of an open coffin, the priest blessed the wedding rings that Michelle had bought specially for the service. Their two children, James, now five, and Megan, now four, went to their daddy's funeral wearing the clothes they would have worn to their parents' wedding. The priest asked Michelle if she would have taken Kevin to be her "lawful wedded husband" and she replied "I do." Kevin's dad Paddy placed a ring on Michelle's finger and a ring was placed on Kevin's finger as he lay in the coffin.