What Studio Cassells does

Studio Cassells is a Hong Kong-based creative consultancy that designs museums, exhibitions, retail environments, thematic installations, and learning and co-work spaces. Its service offering is organised into five pillars: Museum Design, Exhibition Design, Thematic Design (including animatronics, props and environmental recreation), Retail Design, and Learning & Play Spaces. The firm applies a research-driven, narrative-led methodology that intentionally blurs boundaries between design disciplines to produce cross-disciplinary experiences for both cultural and commercial clients. Its work spans client types from government and nonprofit museums (Australian Museum, Science Centre Singapore, Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Rotorua Museum, Shanghai Film Museum) to enterprise retail and attractions operators (Madame Tussauds, World of Coca-Cola, Studio City Macau, Grand Lisboa Palace Resort, Tumi, Miele).

The studio is founder-led. Creative Director and Founder David Cassells trained as an industrial designer in New Zealand, moved into exhibition design in Hong Kong in 2007-08, and collaborated with Story Inc Wellington on the Rotorua Museum and Te Ahu projects before establishing Studio Cassells. Research Director and Co-founder Lucy Cant also trained as an industrial designer, worked at Weta Workshops on films including The Hobbit, District 9 and Avatar, and was Senior Product Designer at Wild Design Shanghai before co-founding the firm. Founder pedigree in film-prop craft and industrial design is the primary source of the studio's thematic design and design-build execution capability.

Studio Cassells operates as a project-based B2B professional services firm with two offices: a headquarters at Unit 2303, 23/F Alliance Building, 130-136 Connaught Road Central in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong (+852 3702 0076), and a secondary office at 32 Cubitt Street in London (+44 (0) 7719338761). Projects span Asia-Pacific markets including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Macau, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. Distribution is direct-to-client via portfolio, industry reputation, and referrals; pricing is bespoke and not publicly disclosed. Revenue is professional services fees from narrative development, masterplanning, concept and detail design, and project management engagements delivered by a 1-10 person team.

Name

Studio Cassells

Legal name

Studio Cassells

Website

https://studiocassells.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Studio Cassells is a Hong Kong-based creative consultancy designing museums, exhibitions, retail environments, thematic attractions, and learning and co-work spaces across Asia-Pacific and the UK for cultural institutions, retail brands, and attractions operators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sheung Wan

HQ country

Hong Kong SAR China

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Design Consultancy Services: Project-based professional services for museum, exhibition, thematic, retail, and learning space design. Engagements typically involve narrative development, master planning, concept design, detail design, and project management from inception through delivery.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Studio Cassells is a Hong Kong-based creative consultancy that provides project-based experiential design services spanning museum design, exhibition design, thematic design, retail design, and learning and play space design. Engagements typically cover narrative development, masterplanning, concept and detail design, and project management from inception through delivery, serving cultural institutions, retail brands, and themed entertainment operators across Asia-Pacific.

Product overview

Studio Cassells is a Hong Kong-based creative consultancy offering a unified suite of experiential design services rather than a software product. Their portfolio comprises five interconnected service offerings: Museum Design (narrative development, masterplanning, and immersive exhibitions), Exhibition Design (traveling and pop-up exhibitions), Thematic Design (animatronics and environmental recreation), Retail Design (narrative-driven brand experiences), and Learning & Play Spaces (educational and co-work environments). Projects span museums, science centers, retail stores, attractions, and educational institutions across Asia-Pacific, with a cross-disciplinary approach that blurs lines between design disciplines to create unique client and customer experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum Design

Named customers20 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Thinkwell Group: Experience design firm specialising in themed attractions, museums, and cultural destinations — directly comparable to Studio Cassells' thematic and museum practice, including animatronics and immersive environments.
• Gallagher & Associates: Specialist museum and cultural-institution design firm delivering masterplanning, exhibit, and interpretive design for science centres, history museums, and aquariums — directly comparable to Studio Cassells' museum and exhibition work.
• Luci Creative: Exhibit and experience design firm delivering museum, visitor centre, and interpretive design for cultural and educational clients — a comparable scale and service-mix peer.
• Jack Rouse Associates (JRA): Experience design consultancy focused on museums, attractions, and brand experiences, with comparable narrative-and-spatial-design methodology and cross-vertical client base.
• BRC Imagination Arts: Design and production company for themed attractions, branded experiences, and museum exhibits, with comparable narrative-driven storytelling, show design, and themed-environment execution.
• Ralph Appelbaum Associates: Long-established museum and exhibition design practice with global institutional clients; comparable because both firms lead narrative-driven masterplanning and exhibit design for cultural and educational venues.
• ESI Design: US-based experience and exhibition design studio working with museums, brands, and cultural institutions on immersive narrative environments — a near-direct analogue to Studio Cassells' museum and exhibition design practice.
• Studio Joseph: Exhibition and museum design studio known for narrative-rich spatial experiences for cultural institutions and brands, sharing Studio Cassells' emphasis on cross-disciplinary storytelling.

Broad incumbents

• Landor: Global brand consulting and experience design firm whose retail and brand-environment practice overlaps with Studio Cassells' retail design work, though Landor operates across a much broader brand and strategy portfolio.
• FITCH: Global retail and brand-experience design consultancy whose showroom, flagship, and consumer-experience work overlaps with Studio Cassells' retail design practice; broader scope and far larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/studiocassells
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/studio-cassells-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Studio Cassells