Fab 40: Cassion Castle, London

Cassion Castle is turning the architectural hinterland of London's East End to his own advantage, seeking out unpromising plots and upgrading them into light-filled living spaces.
Together with former partner Carl Turner, he built the Twofold House, a home and studio for a pair of artists, and today he is hard at work on the Brick Studio, an artfully composed tower of brick designed for an industrial designer client in an off-the-radar London mews.
Castle also acts as contractor on many of his projects, a hands-on process that, he admits, tends to 'throw a lot of emphasis on our relationship with the client.' However, it also allows for far better quality. 'It gives me much better control over things, it's a more craftsman-like and experimental approach.'
Materials and finishes are always a focus: a refurbished Victorian mansion for a contemporary comic actor mixed spatial invention with elaborate touches, while a new low-energy country house in Suffolk is in the design stage.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Could reimagining play reshape childhood? 21st Europe argues for playgrounds as infrastructure
A new blueprint by think tank 21st Europe and Spacon calls for playgrounds to be treated as vital civic infrastructure – on par with museums, stations and energy grids
-
In Vietnam, Amanoi’s most indulgent residence yet is almost hidden on an East Sea clifftop
Aman’s ‘place of peace’ in Vietnam introduces the Amanoi Ocean Pool Residence, an architectural feat complete with its own private beach and spa
-
Yinka Ilori just teamed up with M.A.D. Editions on a trio of ultra-colourful watches
But hurry – you'll need to enter a raffle to score one for yourself
-
15 years of Assemble, the community-driven British architecture collective
Rich in information and visuals, 'Assemble: Building Collective' is a new book celebrating the Turner Prize-winning architecture collective, its community-driven hits and its challenges
-
Meet Studio Knight Stokoe, the landscape architects guided by ‘resilience, regeneration and empathy’
Boutique and agile, Studio Knight Stokoe crafts elegant landscapes from its base in the southwest of England – including a revived brutalist garden
-
Tour this compact Kent coast jewel of a cabin with Studiomama
Jack Mama and Nina Tolstrup take us on a tour of their latest project – a small but perfectly formed Kent coast cabin in Seasalter, UK
-
Boutique London rental development celebrates European courtyard living
London design and development studio Wendover unveils its newest residential project, 20 Newcourt Street, comprising nine apartments; we toured with co-founder Gabriel Chipperfield
-
A refreshed Fulham house balances its history with a series of 21st-century interventions
A Fulham house project by Bureau de Change creates a 21st-century domestic haven through a series of contemporary interventions and a deep connection to the property's historical fabric
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July houses
From geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
Visiting an experimental UK home: welcome to Housestead
This experimental UK home, Housestead by Sanei + Hopkins, brings together architectural explorations and daily life in these architects’ own home
-
A house in Leamington Spa is a domestic oasis infused with contemporary sensibilities
This house in Leamington Spa, by John Pardey Architects, brings together flood risk considerations, a conservation area's historic character, and contemporary sensibilities