Playshapes: Castle Constructors

Playshapes: Castle Constructors is part of the Vanbrugh 300 programme at Castle Howard, near York. A big, bold, hands-on artwork that children are meant to climb into and rebuild — architecture taught by knocking it down and starting again.

What to expect:

• “a large-scale, hands-on installation made from six 1-metre coloured cubes that can be broken down into steps, triangles, polygons, cylinders and prisms”
• Children and adults turn the forms into “towers, follies and dens, before being reassembled at the end of each session”
• Introduces colour, form and three-dimensional space “through physical play rather than instruction”
• Created by Yorkshire artist Pippa Hale and supplied by Timberplay
• Open to Saturday 31 October 2026; included with both House & Garden and Garden tickets
• Indoors at the House, so it keeps going whatever the weather
• Opened 23 May 2026, so much of the run has already passed