gallery, infrastructure/engineering, walk/tour, event, open site, industrial, art in the public realm
John Smeaton, 1768
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, Rear of 28 Amwell Street
what3words: exit.verge.reply
An industrial heritage site that was the hub of one of London’s first major pieces of urban infrastructure. Its 18th and 19th century buildings have been restored by Tim Ronalds Architects to create the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration which opened to the public on June 5th 2026.
Angel, Farringdon, King's Cross St. Pancras
King's Cross, Farringdon
19, 30, 73, 205, 214, 394, 476, 40, 63
Find more information about how to find us here: https://qbcentre.org.uk/your-visit
Find accessibility information here: https://qbcentre.org.uk/accessibility
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is open 10AM-5PM. Some areas of the Centre are free to access. The galleries require a ticket to enter
Guided tour
11:00–12:00
Link to book - heritage tour plus details about illustration on site responding to heritage.
How to book
Bookings will open at midday on 19 August. You won't be able to book a ticket before then.
Talk
15:00–16:00
Link to book:
How to book
Bookings will open at midday on 19 August. You won't be able to book a ticket before then.
Illustrator Quentin Blake founded our organisation in 2002 to make space for people to create illustration and explore how it impacts our lives. His vision remains our inspiration. Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is the new name for House of Illustration, the UK’s only charity for illustration – the art that we experience in our everyday. We celebrate illustration in all its forms, support illustrators and empower people of all ages to tell their stories.
Quentin founded our charity in 2002, with the aim of creating the the UK’s first public place dedicated to illustration.
While searching for a permanent home for our work, we found New River Head, a derelict waterworks in Clerkenwell. We purchased it with a donation in 2019 and began work fundraising to restore it.
In 2020, we appointed award-winning practice Tim Ronalds Architects to plan for the site’s new life as the national centre for illustration. Their scheme preserves the industrial character of the buildings and enhances the site’s biodiversity while creating accessible exhibition galleries, a learning studio, a project space, a café-event space and a shop, surrounded by gardens.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration opened to the public on June 5 2026, in buildings that were once part of a network that that supplied water across the city. Their story connects us to more than 400 years of urban development and social change.
Wandering around the heart of Clerkenwell in central London, you may well glimpse an intriguing complex of buildings hiding in plain sight between Roseberry Avenue and Amwell Street.
This is New River Head, the new national home of illustration and a place with a history of engineering innovation dating from the 17th century; a time when London’s rapidly growing population called for a new approach to the supply of water.
From 1609-1613 the New River was made; an aqueduct cut by 200 labourers to enable fresh water from springs in Hertfordshire to flow to a reservoir at New River Head. From there it was distributed to paying customers in the City in overground wooden pipes.
As demand for water in west London grew at the beginning of the 18th century, pumping technology was needed to increase the pressure of the water and enable it to travel beyond the City. The buildings that exist at New River Head today were built to house these changing technologies.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration has two entrances, Myddelton Passage and Amwell Street. Please let us know if you have any questions in advance of your visit or if you need help while you are at the Centre. Our staff are trained to support all our visitors.
Phone: +44 (0)20 8150 7100
Email: access@qbcentre.org.uk
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is now open to the public, 10AM-5PM. In addition to Open House Festival events happening at the Centre, it will be open to the public. Some spaces are free to access including our shop, gardens, Deeney's Cafe and Library. There are three ticketed galleries; if you wish to visit the galleries during the weekend we would recommend advance booking via our website.
