The Future of the Office: Acoustics, Material Health, and Occupant Comfort

Blake Jackson, AIA is the US Northeast Sustainability Design Leader with Stantec – Boston. He works at the nexus of sustainability, wellness, and resiliency, serving as a company-wide resource for projects seeking measurable carbon reductions and third-party certifications. He has 20+ years’ experience in the AEC industry, and holds a Master in Sustainable Environmental Design from the AA Graduate School in London, UK and a Bachelor of Architecture from Kennesaw State University in Marietta, GA. Blake is a prolific author, speaker, and educator, recently having served as Vice President of Advocacy with the Boston Society of Architects and as an Adjunct Faculty with the Boston Architectural College, Roger Williams University, and UMass Dartmouth. In 2015, Blake was recognized as a top “40 Under 40” built environment professional by Building Design + Construction Magazine, and he was recently honored by the USGBC by being named to the 2021 Class of LEED Fellows.

Greg has more than twenty-five years of experience as an acoustician and has worked on major projects around the world. He has helped guide companies large and small through the acoustics planning of their offices, including headquarters for BP America, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Exelon, and PNC Bank. His work focuses on the daily experience of the people who occupy the spaces he designs, and creatively finds ways to achieve their acoustic goals while also supporting corporate values of sustainability and equity. The PNC Tower project, in particular, was heralded as both the “greenest office tower in the world” and a resounding acoustic success when it opened in 2015.

Additionally, Greg has guided the acoustic and technology systems designs for some of the world’s leading cultural organizations, including The Kennedy Center, Guthrie Theater, Lookingglass Theatre, Writers Theater, Children’s Theatre Company (Minneapolis), and the Harman Center for the Arts in Washington DC. This is apropos, as Greg is a classically trained musician in his own right. His experience sculpting the sound of performance venues trickles into Greg’s work on office projects, where he brings a vision for ways that varying soundscapes throughout an office can draw people together in the workplace, and support each person’s unique ways of working.

His pioneering work on the development of realism within acoustic simulations (auralizations) has earned him a reputation for innovation, and his greg-arious personality makes him a regular on the lecture circuit.

Robert Marshall is senior technical manager for CertainTeed Architectural and a 45-year participant in the commercial ceiling industry.

Aaron Seward is Editor-in-Chief of The Architect’s Newspaper. Seward is an award-winning editor whose career has centered on interpreting architecture for the profession and the general public. He was editor of Texas Architect magazine for six years and prior to that held several positions at AN, including executive editor. In addition to those publications, Seward’s writing on architecture, culture, and the built environment has appeared in Architect, Curbed, Domus, Metropolis, and other publications. He has a BA in Literature, Writing and the Arts from The New School for Social Research.