Open House
Festival 14-22.9.24

Welcome to "Echoes of Transformation: London Through Time," where you'll embark on a journey exploring the evolution of London’s architecture, from its historic brick and stone buildings to the towering glass and steel skyscrapers of today. The city’s ever-changing skyline reflects the shifting ideas, technologies, and values that have shaped it over the centuries.

Christopher Wren, 1672

A revival and love letter to London’s lost bohemia.. Travel back in time to the legendary haunt of some of Soho's greatest creatives. Featuring pictures, press cuttings and even the piano from the much loved private members club.

The Smallest Gallery in Soho is a historic shop-front which faces onto 62 Dean Street, in the heart of Soho. The aim of this creative space is to display artwork that captures people’s attention on their journey through Soho and encourage them to stop, think and be inspired. The art displays are only to be viewed from the street and can be seen at any time of the day.

, 1911

An exhibition of work by artists Flora Hunt and Lac Milan at The Chapel, Brompton Cemetery. This grade II listed, domed 19th century chapel at one of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries will be open for the weekend, hosting an exhibition exploring urban space, nature, anxiety, local history and community, featuring drawing, sculpture, film and a participatory communal singing project.

Benjamin Baud, 1840

Start your exploration of the Open House Soho Neighbourhood with a shot of coffee, a refreshing cold drink and a bite to eat. Explore our newly installed timeline of Soho, and our existing display on the church's history. Relax in our calm and welcoming gardens. Starting point for the Creative Soho Walking Tours.

Formed of a series of brick volumes set on the centre of a quiet backland site, 31/44 Architects completed a new-build family home that is deceptively open and light inside its strong masonry exterior. The mass echoes the informal backs of adjacent houses and begins to express the internal layout, where different height spaces lend hierarchy to the principal rooms.

31/44 Architects, 2016

Architectural showspace on the first floor of a duplex unit in the City’s Royal Exchange (the ground floor houses clothing boutique, GOFF COURTNEY, which also sells accessories, visual books & magazines. INTERMISSION is exhibiting three-dimensional artworks by architect Misha Stefan and RE:PLACE – proposing alternative, more inclusive destinations for three prominent gateway sites in the City.

William Tite, 1844

The North Arch Arts Space invites you to explore its artists' work in a newly designed framework by A347, focused on fostering community-minded practices. With spaces centered around a communal core, the open layout encourages collaboration and interaction. Meet the artists, experience their work firsthand, and purchase directly from them, making artistic creation a tool for community building.

A347, 2024

Come visit us at Gather, a hot glass studio in Charlton / Woolwich for an open studio day. On Saturday 21st September, we are running a number of pre-book short, exciting classes where participants will 'blow their own bauble' for £55 each. At 3pm we will host a free studio tour with glass blowing demonstrations. Visit us see the process in action!

Designed by Edward George Rivers and built by Kirk and Randall in 1882–3, 1882

Come and join us to explore this historic market and its evolution. View images of it's historic past and its part in bringing us such exotic items as tomatoes, olive oil and grapefruit. Take a photograph from the same spot to recreate Oasis's iconic What's the story? (Morning Glory) album cover. Information point and advice on exploring other Soho Open House locations and events.

Open House of 7 Meadow Lane, Charmaine McNally’s home and garden. Charmaine was one the self-build leaders in this 14 home women-led community self-build scheme. Meadow Lane was originally the third of Fusion Jameen’s schemes. Tim Oshodi was engaged as self-build consultant, with project management and cost control provided by Survey Design Partnership and Martin Hughes, the contracts manager.

, 2000

Our story begins in 1841. Richard Benyon pays for a church in West Hackney “to enhance the character and add lustre to the new estate” of De Beauvoir Town. St Peter’s is built in the ‘Gothic Revival’ style and later extended as part of catholic movement in the Church of England. St Peter’s continues. We’re excited to write the next chapter of our life!

-, 1841

Two triple-level apartments or townhouses close to London Fields Lido. The homes are clad in red/brown zinc above a street level base storey of recycled bricks. The homes interlock in section to optimise views and sunlight while stepping away from neighbours.

Chance de Silva, 2024

The team behind the Swing Bridge will describe its inception, evolution, and construction process and how a community deepened their relationship with this pivotal structure that bridges old and new. Palaeontologists and geologists who have researched the site in detail will take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the constructed outcrops that give the Deep Time narrative to the CP Dinosaurs.

Tonkin Liu, 2021

Come visit us at Gather, a hot glass studio in Charlton / Woolwich for an open studio day. On Saturday 21st September, we are running a number of pre-book short, exciting classes where participants will 'blow their own bauble' for £55 each. At 3pm we will host a free studio tour with glass blowing demonstrations. Visit us see the process in action!

Designed by Edward George Rivers and built by Kirk and Randall in 1882–3, 1882

Design District houses permanent and purpose-designed creative workspaces across a cluster of 14 gloriously eclectic buildings, designed by eight pioneering architects. Just one minute from North Greenwich station, the district is a thriving home for creative businesses.

Multiple architects, 2021

Morden College is a charity dedicated to supporting older people, founded in 1695 by the pioneering merchant, Sir John Morden. The original 1695 Grade I listed Quadrangle by Edward Strong, Sir Christopher Wren's master stonemason, has provided older people with accommodation for over 300 years. Across the site and beautiful grounds, the John Morden Centre, a new community space, won the RIBA Stirling prize in 2023.

Mae Architects, 2021

It began with wool and ended in wildness. This tour with a City Guide will uncover 800 years of history and happenings associated with the incident-packed Bartholomew Fair.

Join a City Guide to explore the stories of queer monarchs; the Cathedral convenience; erotic theatre; cross-dressers and find out what Henry VIII had to do with it all.

Join us for a one-hour walking tour of the City of London, starting at the site of the Migration Museums future home. Find out about our 12-year journey to build Britain’s missing museum, our exciting plans for our permanent home, and discover some of the rich migration histories that surround the site.

Interested in history, food and Victorian architecture? This early morning tour (6.30am start) with a City Guide provides a perfect opportunity to experience the hustle and bustle of the City of London’s last surviving market at first hand.

Sir Horace Jones, 1868

Underbelly Boulevard is a brand new home for the hottest cabaret, variety and music plus an exciting new Cocktail Bar, right in the heart of Soho. Come in and let us show you around!

SODA, 2023

Join us on a guided walk following the 'Tottenham Tales' trail. Tottenham has a rich and fascinating tapestry of tales of local rebels, artists, pioneers and more. The tour will take us around South Tottenham, a treasure hunt for the new Tottenham Tale signage that highlights the buildings and sites that hold remnants of these tales, supported by an online map to bring archive material to life.

Located in the Seven Dials Conservation Area, David Kohn Architects' tiered rooftop extension creates a new family home that responds to the richness of its historic context, the surrounding rooflines, and the robustness of the existing brick warehouse building beneath. Please note: No photography allowed.

David Kohn Architects, 2024

Join SAVE and Dr Tom Bolton on a walking tour of Aldwych. Behind the wide formal streets of Aldwych and Kingsway lies a very different neighbourhood. Clare Market and Drury Lane were a tangle of disreputable alleys until the new streets cut them in half. But traces remain, and this walk dives into the back streets to track the vanished lanes and recreate their past at the core of ancient London.

Uncover hidden histories that prove queer people have always been here – and always will be.

A walking tour celebrating the music venues of Camden Town. Learn about the historic bands that have played at the various sites Camden is famous for. From Pink Floyd to Amy Winehouse and beyond. Take a walk on the wild side through Camden's musical highlights.

London is the ultimate urban sprawl. But hiding among the buildings and cars there are an estimated eight million trees. So who else do we share our city with? Do you have a neighbourhood goose? Are there really seals in the River Thames? Join Lucy Brown from wildlife conservation charity ZSL on a journey through London's wild alter-ego, via the parks and waterways of Camden and Westminster.

A guided tour through an area packed with medieval and Tudor history.

Muphoria Gallery based on Berwick Street, Soho, is London's first music art gallery, exhibiting pop art and musical instruments created by UK artists. We will be hosting a walking tour around the musically important buildings of Soho.

This walk invites all canal enthusiasts – also known as ‘gongoozlers’ – on a walk through the social and industrial history of the Limehouse Basin and along Regent’s Canal. Discover how a purpose-built canal shaped the lives of East Enders, Londoners and the United Kingdom.

John Nash, 1820

Have you ever wondered as you wandered what exactly led to a bench looking like that, why London's telephone boxes are red, what those green huts are, and why there are no public toilets anymore...? If the answer is 'YES!' then join us as we saunter around Temple and the Strand with these questions in mind, stopping to peek at parts of the city fabric that we often overlook – and learning about the designers and 'deciders' behind the scenes.

This walking tour will draw comparisons between the progress and demise of the postwar welfare state. Focusing on housing and healthcare, the tour will present prominent examples from the era and discuss ways these are being adapted to meet contemporary challenges, such as the housing crisis and ongoing maintenance. The ambition of the tour is to reassess the value of postwar architecture today.

Join Space Black and staff from Shepherd's Bush Market for a tour exploring the importance of the market to the African and SWANA community in London. This 110-year-old market boasts a rich cultural heritage and a diverse community of traders. You’ll find everything from food to textiles and tailoring services.

Trace the lost river and discover the abandoned island of Channelsea, then visit the newly founded urban oasis of Abbey Gardens on this walk, talk and eat exploration of this hidden history of the tidal Lea Valley and site of London's now rapidly vanishing industrial past. Consider the opportunity to make new urban green spaces that celebrate both wild and man made environments in harmony.

Public Works, 2006

Join a captivating journey through the City of London with our exclusive Muslim Heritage Tour. Discover the deep connections of Salahuddin Ayubi and marvel at the UK's oldest Muslim statues, dating back 1000 years. Uncover the legacy of England’s most famous Middle Eastern immigrant and delve into fascinating tales of crime and health in history.

Well-executed and colourfully detailed example of Victorian reading and vestry rooms (1863) with added public hall by S. Woodridge 1887. Beautiful details inside and out.

S. Woodbridge, 1863

A Grade I and II* treasure that’s home to an inclusive church, an award winning venue, a unique organ and The Margins Project for those in crisis in London. Family Organ Building Workshops are generously supported by the Institute of Physics.

James Cubitt, 1877

The doors to the building will be opened to the public. Not only will visitors get the opportunity to see "behind the scenes" but they will have the opportunity to bring along their food and drink and join the Our Pastures Community Garden Picnic, join taster sessions from site regulars and find out more about what takes place onsite. Activity fully booked? Waiting list: hello@weflockcic.org.uk

-, 1880

Built in 1817 and located at the terminus of York Gate, Regent’s Park, St Marylebone Parish Church is one of the most significant landmarks of Marylebone. Our parish church has shaped and has been shaped by the community of Marylebone, even giving the village its name and providing continual spiritual and pastoral care for the community for over 900 years.

Thomas Hardwick, 1817

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) moved into Burlington House 150 years ago in 1874. Part of the extension to Burlington House to provide accommodation for learned societies, the building was refurbished in 2007. The RAS is the oldest astronomical society in the world and has been encouraging and promoting the study of astronomy and geophysics since 1820.

Robert Richardson Banks and Charles Barry, 1874

Striking, provocative and one of London’s few Grade I listed post-war buildings. As we celebrate 60 years since our unique building was opened we invite you to drop in, explore our archives, take a tour and more to discover this award-winning building from its modernist lines to dramatic interiors. See https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/event/open-house-festival-2024 for more.

Sir Denys Lasdun, 1964