Mara Ellison
Chief Executive Officer
Leads the North American practice. Previously ran the outdoor-shading studio that Shadesology acquired — same plants, same installer map, new storefront.
Company
About Shadesology
Engineered exterior shading for residential and commercial openings across North America — built on a practice that already knew how to fasten into masonry, not fascia.
History
Shadesology is the storefront of an outdoor-shading practice that began as a regional awning shop: lateral-arm units, powder-coated frames, and a short list of certified installers. Over two decades the line grew into cassette awnings, heat-sealed fabric pergolas, rotating and retractable louvers, zip screens, sails, cantilever umbrellas, pool covers and architectural canopies.
The current brand launched so owners, architects and dealers could configure those same systems online — imperial first, house photo required, ZIP-matched installers — without losing the engineering packet that used to live in a binder on a truck.
Mission
Make exterior shade as specifiable as a window: honest wind classes, real lead times, a certified installer when the structure demands one, and a price that matches the opening in the photo — not a stock rendering.
Manifesto
How we work. Original copy for this practice — not a clone of anyone else’s values page.
01
The opening comes first
We start with the wall, the deck, the terrace and the wind — not the SKU. A cassette awning on the wrong projection is still the wrong product. House photos are required because guessing from a tape measure is how jobs fail.
02
Retract is a feature, not a failure
Fabric that comes in when the Beaufort number says so will outlast fabric that stays out to look busy. We publish wind classes in both Beaufort and EN 13561 so a specifier in Miami and a specifier in Milan can read the same card.
03
Partners, not drop-ship
Certified installers are in the ZIP search because a 40-foot cassette is not a weekend project. We would rather lose a DIY cart than ship a louvered roof to a house with no ledger.
04
Say the hard thing early
If Florida NOA or Miami-Dade Product Approval is required, we say so before deposit. If a sail will not be waterproof, the configurator says so. Deadlines we cannot keep are rewritten in the same business day.
05
Details are the product
Hood depth, pack side, zip-track lubricant, RAL chips, gutter fall — these are not extras. Attention to the small parts is how a terrace still looks new in year eight.
06
The owner’s project is our project
We would specify the same motor, fabric and mount on our own house. Trade pricing exists so dealers can do the same for their clients without a second set of drawings.
Vision
Every west-facing glass wall, restaurant terrace and HOA deck in North America should be able to intercept heat and UV before it hits the interior — with motors that retract, blades that drain, and drawings an AHJ will stamp. We are building the catalog, the Learning Center and the dealer map until that is ordinary, not a custom job.
Leadership
David Okonkwo
Head of Engineering
Stamped sets, NOA packets, BIM families. Coordinates licensed engineers in all 50 states for Axis canopies and coupled louver bays.
Priya Shah
Director of Dealer Network
Installer certification, ZIP coverage and the training that keeps Beaufort ratings honest in the field.
James Whitaker
Design Center lead
Owns the configurators. Imperial default, metric toggle, photo gate before cart — so the quote matches the opening.
Sustainability
Exterior shade is energy work. A correctly projected awning or a closed louver at solar noon cuts solar heat gain before HVAC has to erase it. That is the first sustainability claim we will make — see the energy-savings guide.
- Solution-dyed acrylic and powder-coated aluminium chosen for replacement cycles measured in years, not seasons.
- Motors that retract so fabric is not a disposable storm casualty.
- Packaging: USA crating option on pergolas when ocean freight would otherwise double-handle the crate.
- A dedicated lifecycle / EPD library is still forthcoming; engineering reports live in the resource library.
Careers
We hire for engineering, dealer success, design-center ops and warehouse. Open roles rotate; send a note and we will match you or keep the file. Applications land in the same quote inbox as project requests, tagged career.
Awards
Recognition below belongs to the prior company ownership — the awning and pergola studio Shadesology continues. We keep the citations because the plants, the installer roster and the engineering habit did not reset with the new brand.
- Regional hospitality design citations for coupled terrace pergolas (prior ownership, multiple seasons).
- Allied-member project mentions with local AIA chapters for Axis-style canopies on civic entries.
- Trade-association participation (awning / fabric / exterior-shading councils) carried into the current dealer program.
- Installer-network quality awards from the previous brand’s certified-partner conference — same partners, new packet.
See awarded and hospitality work in the project gallery or configure the current line in the design center.