Open House Festival is a London-wide annual event that celebrates the city’s architecture, neighborhoods, and built heritage. Taking place across all 33 boroughs, it offers free access to hundreds of buildings, homes, and public spaces, many of which are not usually open to the public. The festival includes tours, talks, and walking trails, highlighting London’s diverse communities and urban design.
Belgravia’s 200 years of glory: from swamp to splendour
Walk/ Tour at The Nova Building, 79 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 0AJ
Built in the 1820s for the upper class, Belgravia remains a jewel in the heart of London. Renowned for its grand architecture, garden squares, and cobbled mews, it has preserved much of its original Victorian appearance. Discover 200 years of history: from marshland to gracious living, notable residents, hidden stories, and its evolution into the 21st century.
National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 9SP
A Grade II listed building that is home to the NAO, the UK’s independent public spending watchdog. We support Parliament in holding government to account and help improve public services through our audits. Opened in 1939 by Imperial Airways, subsequently BOAC and then British Airways as an airport terminal. The NAO has occupied the building since 1986.
St Barnabas Church
St Barnabas Street, SW1W 8PF
Early English style, full of Pre-Raphaelite decoration. Important works by Bodley, Comper and Cundy and windows by Kempe and Tower. First Oxford Movement church. Recently restored 10 bell peal
London Scottish House (London Scottish Regimental Headquarters)
London Scottish House, 95 Horseferry Road, Westminster, SW1P 2DX
A Grade 2 listed former Territorial Army Drill Hall featuring restored elements of the original 1882 design. It has a triple height central hall with the restored wrought iron balconies and roofing. Notable Neo-Georgian design brickwork. It is also unique in being the last ever military drill hall built in the UK.
St John’s Smith Square
Smith Square, SW1P 3HA
A rare example of Thomas Archer’s work and a masterpiece of English Baroque, originally dubbed Queen Anne’s Footstool. A Grade I listed building, restored by Marshall Sisson after extensive bombing damage, now a busy concert hall.
St Matthew’s Church, Westminster
St Matthew’s Church, 20 Great Peter St, SW1P 2BU
St Matthew’s is an inclusive church with unique architecture, remarkable history, and a very strong musical tradition; but in the shadow of Westminster Abbey it is often overlooked, making it a real hidden gem. Come and learn about St Matthew’s history and community, hear our choir and historic organ, and learn about how we continue centuries of prayer in this holy place
City of Westminster Archives Centre
10 St Ann’s Street, SW1P 2DE
Talks at The Thorney Island Society Archives
10 Old Pye Street, SW1P 2DG
Talk: Thorney Island – London’s Lost Island’ Join Victor Keegan, author of Lost London 1 & 2, for a journey into the hidden history of Thorney Island—the lost eyot where Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament now stand. Once formed by the River Tyburn flowing into the Thames, discover its role in early London, its transformation, and the traces still visible in Westminster today.
Secret Westminster
Walk/Tour at Westminster Archives, 10 St. Ann’s Street, SW1P 2DE
Westminster … ‘The centre of political, royal and religious power’… not on this walk. In the shadows of Westminster Abbey just beyond the well trodden tourist paths, lies an area rich with secrets waiting to be discovered. Come and join the City of Westminster guides for our Secret Westminster tour.
Westminster Abbey – East End
1245 Dean’s Yard, SW1P 3PA
UNESCO World Heritage site dating from 11th century including stunning examples of Gothic and Medieval architecture and many hidden treasures.
Westminster Abbey – Cloisters
Dean’s Yard, SW1P 3PA
Healthy City – how healthcare shaped London’s landscapes
Walk/Tour at Westminster Tube Outside Exit 2., SW1A 2JR
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.
Old Admiralty Building (OAB)
Spring Gardens, Westminster, SW1A 2DY
Westminster’s grand Old Admiralty Building is the backdrop to many of the UK’s most important ceremonial events. Within its walls some of the most significant – and classified – events in the 20th-century history have happened including the idea behind Operation Mincemeat. Have a chance to look inside a part of this fantastic Grade II Listed Building including the Government Art Collection.
Howard Hodgkin Studio
The Howard Hodgkin Studio, Address tbc to ticket holders, WC1 1AB
Sir Howard Hodgkin (1932 – 2017) was one of England’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Abstracted yet allusive, apparently spontaneous but in fact highly controlled, his paintings convey feeling through gesture and colour. His former studio, converted from a nineteenth-century dairy, sits in the heart of Bloomsbury.
Canada House
Trafalgar Square, SW1Y 5BJ
Canada’s diplomatic home in the United Kingdom, the revitalised Canada House serves as a showcase for the very best of Canadian art and design in the 21C
St Martin-in-the-Fields
Trafalgar Square , WC2N 4JH
One of Britain’s finest churches, built in the Italian Baroque tradition and beautifully restored in 2008. Sustainable features include new heating and management systems and lightwell. RIBA Award Winner 2009. Civic Trust Award Winner 2010.
College of Optometrists
42 Craven Street, WC2N 5NG
HQ of professional and examining body for UK optometrists occupying two terraced houses, No. 41 (Flitcroft c1730 with later additions) and No. 42 (rebuilt by Tarmac plc, c1989 with rear extension over the former back yard) including Council Chamber, Georgian-style print room, modern meeting spaces, recording studio, academic library and refurbished museum.
Benjamin Franklin House
36 Craven Street, WC2N 5NF
Just steps from Trafalgar Square, is Benjamin Franklin House, the world’s only remaining Franklin home. For nearly sixteen years between 1757 and 1775, Benjamin Franklin – scientist, diplomat, philosopher, inventor, and Founding Father of the United States – lived behind its doors. Built circa 1730, we are a Grade I listed house, with largely original flooring and wall paneling.
RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)
8 John Adam Street, WC2N 6EZ
Somerset House
Strand, WC2R 1LA
This special occasion marks Somerset House’s transformation from government offices to an internationally acclaimed cultural hub, inviting visitors to explore rarely seen spaces and engage with our vibrant creative community.
Australia House
Australia House, Strand, WC2B 4LA
Australia House, home to the Australian High Commission since 1918, is London’s longest continually-occupied diplomatic mission. Designed by A. Marshall Mackenzie & Son and opened by King George V, this Grade II listed landmark features striking marble and timber interiors, much of it shipped from Australia during the First World War.
Muslim Heritage of the City tour
Temple tube station entrance, WC2R 2PH
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.
HMS Wellington
Temple Stairs, Victoria Embankment, WC2R 2PN
HMS WELLINGTON, moored on Victoria Embankment, is the last remaining dedicated Battle of the Atlantic Convoy Escort ship still afloat in Europe. In the 6-year Battle, she steamed close to a quarter of a million miles, escorted 103 Atlantic Convoys and rescued from the sea hundreds of civilians and seamen who would surely have perished but for her efforts. This is a unique and fascinating warship.
Two Temple Place
2 Temple Place, WC2R 3BD
Completed in 1895, Two Temple Place is a dazzling neo-Gothic gem on the Victoria Embankment, designed by gothic revivalist architect, John Loughborough Pearson, & commissioned by & built for William Waldorf Astor, as his estate office.
Instituto Cervantes London
15-19 Devereux Court, Temple, United Kingdom, WC2R 3JJ
Instituto Cervantes is a public institution under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, created by the Spanish Government in 1991 to promote the teaching, study and use of Spanish globally and the understanding of Hispanic cultures abroad. Instituto Cervantes has presence in more than 90 cities across 45 countries.
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, WC2A 2LL