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Brooks Morelock (BArch 鈥�11), a principal at Gensler, a global design firm, was recently honored with a , which recognizes alumni age 40 and younger who have demonstrated distinctive achievement in their careers and civic involvement.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly exciting. The gravity of it is getting bigger and bigger,鈥� said Morelock, 37, who works in Gensler鈥檚 New York office and was surprised with news of the award during a conference call with Gensler and UT officials.听

Becoming an architect

Morelock grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee, where he graduated from Sullivan South High School. As a youth, he was studious, athletic, and artistic.听听

鈥淚 definitely had the Lego tendency. And I was a performer. I did theatre all through school.鈥� Morelock also considered playing college football, but ultimately chose a different path after thoughtful conversations with his father, who had played at Georgia Tech. Instead, he pursued architecture at UT, a field that demanded the same kind of focus, discipline, and rigor he admired in sports, while also allowing him to channel his creativity.听听

The UT advantage

Morelock credits UT for helping him land his job in the world鈥檚 largest design firm.听

鈥淭he architecture program at UT taught me to execute,鈥� he said. Through design studio courses, he learned to make presentations and compile an attention-worthy portfolio.听

But it was a series of fortuitous鈥攈e calls them 鈥渕agical鈥濃�攄ecisions that led Morelock to Gensler.听

During his fourth year, when many UT architecture students study abroad, Morelock opted for a one-year urban planning program at Columbia University in New York. That spring, rather than going to Paris with the Columbia program, he accepted an internship at Schrimmer Design Group LLC in New York.听

Then, in February 2011, while touring Gensler, Morelock was pulled aside by Gensler supervisor Susan Moyer, a fellow UT alum, who told him she鈥檇 heard good things about him from his boss at Schrimmer.听

鈥淕ensler basically hired me on the spot,鈥� he said.听

Three months later, Morelock graduated from UT. Two days later, he moved to New York. The next day, he started work at Gensler.听听

In 2015, to expand his expertise, Morelock became a licensed interior designer. Over the next 10 years, he moved up the ranks at Gensler and, in December 2023, became a principal.听

鈥楤ig ideas person鈥�

Interior Design magazine calls Morelock 鈥渁 visionary鈥攖ranslating evolving client needs into award-winning spaces and pioneering innovative approaches that redefine the future of workplaces.鈥�听

Despite its size, Gensler is organized into collaborative teams. Morelock鈥檚 team of 60 designers focuses on technology, media, and financial workplace projects.听

鈥淚鈥檓 a big ideas person. Big brush strokes. Not details. I like the storytelling, the romance, the theatre of it all,鈥� he said.听

One of Morelock鈥檚 favorite projects: Designing World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.听

鈥淲hen COVID shut everything down, WWE moved to create an off-the-grid production studio so they were not reliant on rentable venues during the pandemic ,鈥� he said.听

The project combined WWE鈥檚 offices from four buildings into a new headquarters under one roof in a building that was previously home to the financial firm UBS, which had the largest trading floor in North America. Morelock鈥檚 team designed a four-story, 415,000-square-foot entertainment complex with dressing rooms, costume shops, a video editing suite, a writers鈥� room, a 15,000-square-foot gym for the performers, as well as spaces utilized by WWE鈥檚 video games and merchandising teams. The WWE facility also includes a 360-degree digital screen where shows can be produced in-house, without the need for outside venues.听