Open House Festival

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Golden Key Academy alumni guides

Many of these tour guides lead tours year-round, either independently or for other organisations. You can learn more about tours these guides lead by checking their individual event listings.

Walking tour

1930s Bloomsbury walking tour

walk/tour

The leafy Georgian streets of Bloomsbury were shaken up in the 1930s by a new wave of development, from great academic institutions to speculative flats for modern urban living, plus probably the most stylish car showroom in London. We'll explore the range of 1930s architectural styles used in some famous and not so famous buildings, and even take a peek inside where we can.

Walking tour

A Quick History of the Tube

walk/tour

Explore some of the oldest – and newest – parts of London's underground rail infrastructure as you learn about the world’s first passenger underground railway and hear about its impact on the built environment. From saving London from traffic chaos in the 1850s to fuelling its expansion ever since, it's a fascinating tale of human ingenuity – and property speculation!

The walk examines the homes created by architects and designers for themselves through six remarkable case studies, spanning from the 1930s to the 1970s, from the Modernist International style to the ground-breaking Hi-tech movement.

Wells Coates, 1934

Walking tour

Art and architecture in Thamesmead

walk/tour

On the surface Thamesmead might seem concrete and grey, but on this tour we will take a look at the colour and life local artists that are breathing into the area. Examining the past and present, we'll explore the abbey ruins, exciting sculptures, concrete skywalks, and vivid murals that make this place the Town of Tomorrow.

Tranquil Clerkenwell, so close to the bustling City, has a distinct character and intriguing history. Once centred around great religious houses, the area has been the scene of fierce rebellion, innovative architecture, and major commerce.

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A walking tour in the City of London revealing its unique status among other boroughs of London. It gives an opportunity to learn about the City – a tiny area, covering just over one square mile packed with history, exclusive rights and peculiar customs. It’s not just a walking tour, it’s also an adventure packed with activities, which unveil a piece of the City you never knew about.

On this walk you will see some of the forgotten contributions of Victorian women to the magnificent buildings of South Kensington, in particular the V&A and the Royal Albert Hall. You will also see how women were represented very differently from men on the buildings and memorials of this internationally important arts and science district.

Francis Fowke, 0

Walking tour

Empire City walking tour

walk/tour

Walk through the City of London from the Thames up to Lloyds of London, site of the former HQ of the East India Company, looking at buildings and architecture built during the time of British Empire.

Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, 1677

Join this walking tour to explore London's energy history and its impact on sustainability. Visit the King's Cross canals to see old and new infrastructure. Topics include London's carbon footprint, quantifying health benefits from green infrastructure, and the role of the built environment in meeting the net zero targets. Discover how London’s past has shaped its sustainable future.

A walk around historic Walthamstow showing how this unique area grew from a village into a thriving suburb, its social history and the variety of buildings that can be found where Epping Forest meets William Morris.

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This year marks the 51st anniversary of when the wholesale market ceased trading and moved to the Battersea/Vauxhall area . The tour charts the evolution of Covent Garden, incorporating the piazza, the wholesale produce market, social residential areas and supporting neighbourhoods, and highlighting the social and commercial highs, lows and challenges. Contact tonyganio@gmail.com

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The early 1800's saw the green fields of northern Clerkenwell spring up into grand squares and terraced houses. This walking tour will look at how the speculative housing developed, what remains today, and the unique stories and characters of the area.

Calling all canal enthusiasts - also known as 'gongoozlers' - to walk through the social and industrial history of Little Venice, Camden Lock, and St Pancras. If you enjoyed Gongoozlers of Regent's Canal & Limehouse Basin in the east (Open House 2024), you will enjoy this new west side story. Discover how a hand-dug canal shaped the lives of West Enders, Londoners, and the United Kingdom.

John Nash, 1820

This tour looks at how healthcare has had an impact on the buildings and landscapes between Westminster Abbey and the City. Exploring healthcare-related buildings, rebuilt, repurposed or removed and their influence on the landscape.

Multiple architects, 1100

Kensington and Westminster represent wealth and privilege, yet their northern edges tell a different story. Here poverty and poor conditions have stood in contrast to the affluence just a few miles south. This tour explores these working class areas through a housing lens. It considers commercial endeavour, the ideals of modernism, community activism and the ongoing search for housing solutions.

Walking tour

Huguenots' heritage in Spitalfields

walk/tour

Huguenots had a huge impact on London’s culture, commerce and industry from the 17th century onwards. But how much do we really know about them? During this walk we will discover and explore the history of Spitalfields.

Walking tour

In Shakespeare's footsteps

walk/tour

In 1949, American actor Sam Wanamaker came looking for Shakespeare in London and could not find much, so decided to re-build the Globe Theatre. Join Lisa who holds a MA in Shakespeare Studies from the Globe Theatre and King's College London and walk in steps of Shakespeare -- and Wanamaker nearly 400 years later.

Walking tour

Islington New River walking tour

walk/tour

This walking tour will follow the course one of the earliest public infrastructure projects in London, the 400 year old New River aqueduct. Explore a history of innovative public housing developments in one of the most densely populated parts of London and end at New River Head, a striking example of public utility architecture now being repurposed for arts and culture.

Walking tour

London, adored and explored

walk/tour

On this journey into Soho and St Giles, I want to show the different ways London’s streets are alive with love in all its varied forms. Buildings are often said to be sympathetic or out of place, in keeping or a departure from their surroundings. This tour will explore how the built environment reflects the relationships we conduct with each other.

Alfred Gilbert, 1892

A walk through this leafy corner of Islington that explores its rich history and varied communities, from dissenting academies to missionary training schools, radical drinking clubs to synagogues – and asks why some historical sites are commemorated and remembered, and others are neglected and forgotten.

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.

Walking tour

Slavery and the City

walk/tour

We will explore sites and institutions with direct links to the history of slavery and hear why the apologies were made in 2020, whilst wandering within the story packed streets and alleyways of the Square Mile.

The area post 1700 became very cosmopolitan with immigrants mainly from Europe and their influence on food and drink became increasingly important. This tour is based on food and drink, passing by restaurants, pubs, coffee bars and pâtisserie delis that have been present for decades, finishing at a relatively new site.

Walking tour

Spitalfields - stories of people

walk/tour

For hundreds of years, Spitalfields has been a place where those seeking safety, work, and community have settled. They all leave their mark in streets buildings in an area rich in history and architectural interest.

Walking tour

Stratford: past, present and future

walk/tour

On the surface Stratford is all Olympics and Westfield: this tour unearths the area's Roman and religious origins, unusual buildings, famous manufacturing pioneers, 20th century hard times and considers (from above) the impacts of its newest quarter.

Follow in the footsteps of the Beatles, Coldplay, Alfred Hitchcock and countless others….See what remains of the iconic 1960’s BBC Television Centre and the Gaumont Film Studios ….plus discover Charles Dickens’ controversial connection to Shepherd’s Bush.

AHMM, 2013

Walking tour

The Fleet beneath your feet

walk/tour

A walk along and around a stretch of London's most famous hidden river. The River Fleet is underground these days, but it's left its mark on the landscape. Discover the layers of history in this less explored corner of central London.

various

Walking tour

Visionaries, Heretics and Ale Wives

walk/tour

Discover the lives of London’s women in the Middle Ages through plague and mysticism to early entrepreneurialism. Visit the site of an anchorite chapel and discover what led such women to turn their backs on the world for a life of solitude and prayer. And witness the final resting-place of the so - called Winchester Geese , medieval sex workers who lived and died beyond the City walls.