barriers/membranes in Conway's Game of Life

Question

Has anyone working on Conway's Game of Life found a way to create barriers which divide zones, ideally between a potentially chaotic "outside" and a structured inside, which could then become, e.g., a kind of truly living cell (or other functional structure which proceeds largely under its own rules without being subject to constant interference from the outside)? This wouldn't necessarily be a barrier which is completely impermeable/indestructible; one which is relatively so (perhaps one which can only be breached by certain unusual formations of outside structures, or which has several layers of defense which could withstand some repeated battering before being fully breached). There are of course many stable configurations, but many are so only on the assumption that no other structures approach their boundaries; as we know, many very complex structures collapse more or less quickly when a single errant glider hits and begins to interact with it. I'm looking of course not for a structure which will simply destroy a glider coming from a particular angle, but one which is able to deflect/absorb a large number of outside structures coming from many different angles.