Open House Festival

September 13 2025

London Heritage Quarter

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.

Book here

 

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.

Drop In Activities

 

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

Drop In Information

 

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.

Drop In Information

 

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.

Drop In Information

 

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

Drop In Information

 

City of Westminster Archives Centre

10 St Ann’s Street, SW1P 2DE

Modern red brick building purpose-built to house the City of Westminster’s historic records. Opportunity to visit the conservation studio and see treasures of the archives.

Drop In Guided Tour

 

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.

Drop In Open Day & Talks

 

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.

Click to book the Guided 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.

To Book a Tour

 

Westminster Abbey – Cloisters

Dean’s Yard, SW1P 3PA

UNESCO World Heritage site dating from 11C including stunning examples of Gothic and Medieval architecture and many hidden treasures.

Guided Tour

 

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.

Book the Walking Tour here

 

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.

Click to book a Guided Tour

 

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.

Open Studio Days

 

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

Book a Tour of Canada House

 

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.

Open Day Drop In

 

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.

Drop In Open Day

 

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.

Open Days & Demonstrations

 

RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)

8 John Adam Street, WC2N 6EZ

A very good example of Georgian/Adam architecture. Restoration in 2012 of the Great Room (James Barry paintings), and Benjamin Franklin room. Restoration in 2019 and installation of 1754-2018 mural in the Long Gallery.

Drop In Sessions

 

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.

Click to book a Tour

 

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.

Book a Self Guided Tour here

 

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.

Book a Tour here

 

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.

Drop In Information.

 

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.

Drop In Information

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.

Drop In Information

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, WC2A 2LL

Architect G.E Street’s iconic masterpiece set in the heart of London and one of Victorian England’s great public buildings. 13th Century Gothic style given a Victorian interpretation. Commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1870 ‘s to build the home for Civil Justice for the United Kingdom.

Drop In Open Day