Nominated by Louis Nequette of Nequette Architecture, Cassandra Kellogg & Zane Morgan were honored at our 2024 Soul of the South Awards as our Architecture & Interior Design category winners.

Biography

The founders and principles of BLACKSHOP, Cassandra Kellogg and Zane Morgan, have been designing and making alongside one another for over a decade. At its core, BLACKSHOP strives to create architecture and objects that deeply connect their client’s needs to the built environment, while staying hyper-focused on the smallest of details.

Cassandra and Zane both earned degrees in Architecture and Interior Architecture from Auburn University, and post-college worked in prominent firms in Alabama and Maine. After a tornado devastated their property and their surrounding community in 2014, they began searching for a silver-lining. Soon they realized that there is a need for good design at all scales and that everyone is worthy of good design. With those core values in mind, their design and fabrication company, BLACKSHOP, was established.

In addition to running their business, Cassandra and Zane continue to devote time to volunteering as design and fabrication consultants at the Rural Studio. Most importantly, they are parents to two future employees, Judd and Jay, as well as their dog, Merle.

 

Soul of the South Q&A

1) What was your “aha” moment or when did you decide that this was the industry for you?

In 9th grade, I (Cassandra) watched a documentary on Auburn’s design-build program, Rural Studio, and decided that Architecture was the path I wanted to pursue. Zane quickly realized his creativity was being stifled during his freshman year at Auburn where he was enrolled as a mechanical engineering student. One day he happened across the Architecture program on campus during an event and knew he would fit in there where he could use his practical building skills as well as his ingenuity to design beautiful spaces– and our paths were set.

2) How did your upbringing or time spent in Alabama shape your career?

While Zane grew up just north of Birmingham in Adamsville, I grew up in a small town in Western New York called Leicester. That small town charm and sense of community stuck with us both as we got older and moved on to college at Auburn. We were both fortunate enough to be selected to participate in Auburn University’s School of Architecture design-build program, Rural Studio. We spent several years off of Auburn’s main campus devoting our time, energy, and resources to helping out impoverished communities in West Alabama through designing and building a town hall and civil rights museum. Our time at Rural Studio was not only career defining but also molded us into the people we are today. We learned the importance of being immersed in the communities we design in, how to truly listen to our clients’ wants and needs, and that everyone deserves good design in their lives. It doesn’t matter if you are wealthy or less fortunate– every person has a human right to dignified design.

 

3) What keeps you moving forward in the industry, and do you have a quote or motto that resonates with you?

A motto that we continually thread through our work is that good design should happen at all scales. Whether it is at a community scale, an individual’s home, or something as simple as a piece of furniture or hardware, we all deserve to be surrounded by functional, beautiful spaces and objects. We truly love obsessing over the smallest details even when they are things that most people wouldn’t notice.

 

4) How has your nominator made a positive impact on your idea of and/or relationship to your industry?

It is evident through the thoughtful design of community and place-based projects, as well as the fostering of the positive firm culture he has created, that Louis is continuously pushing the limits of what good design looks like in Alabama. The attention to detail, crafting of both space and place, and building of community that he has accomplished while still being family oriented in such a demanding profession is something to aspire to.

 

5) What would you consider your greatest professional accomplishment?

The professional accomplishments we feel most proud of are not necessarily awards but simply having satisfied clients. To us, designing spaces and objects that have a positive effect on someone’s daily life are the most gratifying part of our profession by far. It’s always nice to design something beautiful and be recognized for it but it is just as rewarding to help someone who typically couldn’t afford architectural or design services and have them enjoy their new space.

6) What would you like to see more of in Alabama as it pertains to your industry?

We would like to see Architecture and design get back to basics. Looking at our surroundings and studying local vernacular can really inform design, especially here in Alabama. It would also be great to see more encouragement at the state and local level in the realm of sustainability– more local materials, sensible footprints, and thoughtful place-based planning.