Trends come and go quickly in this fast-paced landscape. What never goes out style are visionaries who can see past the latest craze and chart their own path forward. On this episode of the MarketScale AEC Podcast, we take a look at the four individuals who were featured in the first season of the Faces of Design series. Each of these people have skills and traits that help them stand out in the industry, and are paving the way as leaders for AEC professionals everywhere.

Also on this episode is a look at the trend of open workspaces and the challenges they can present. Open spaces and hard surfaces can also mean more noise in the workspace; Brian Atkinson, Client Development Manager at ABD Engineering & Design, joins the show to talk about ways that sound can be minimized in these now ubiquitous workspaces.

It's a trend that has been more and more prevalent over the last several years: the open workspace. Companies have been shifting that direction to create a more unified company culture and to prevent isolating employees from other employees, as well as to encourage collaboration and communication. Figuratively and literally, walls are coming down.

However, opening up a space means potential acoustical nightmares; an office that's basically a giant warehouse filled with desks is a reverb dreamscape, which isn't so dreamy for productive work time. Many companies are hiring firms to come in and retroactively adjust the space to be acoustically in line, but often that's not enough.

MarketScale Host Scott Sidway spoke with Brian Atkinson, client development manager from ABD Engineering and Design, about what sound problems arise with collaborative workspaces, how they can be fixed, and how the industry can stay ahead of these acoustic issues with proactive design.