It's a busy weekend to be out and about in London. The Mayor's got his Thames Festival up and running on the South Bank (noon-10pm, Sat & Sun). It's London Walking Weekend, with free guided walks in all 33 London boroughs (yes, even Barking and Dagenham). Down in the southeast it's the launch of the Green Chain Walking Festival, with more than 70 free events to partake in (15-23 September). It's also the start of the London Design Festival, a post-modern celebration of 200 creative projects across the centre of town (15-25 September). And then there's the big event - London Open House. More than 600 buildings, old and new, will be opening their doors to the public for free in a two-day celebration of design, history and fine architecture. Who scheduled all these events for the same weekend? I bet they all appeal to a similar demographic, and that there's some evil scheming London Leisure Tsar responsible for this outdoor fixture pile-up.
But London Open House wins my vote, and I'll be out there with my lime green programme on both Saturday and Sunday seeing how many fascinating buildings I can get inside. Here are a few of my recommendations. Where are you lot going?
10 Open House venues where you might spot me this weekend Home Office HQ: major new Government building in Victoria (you had to sign up online for this one, but it wasn't listed in the Open House booklet so none of the tours filled up) (alas, bookings have just closed) Shri Swaminarayan Mandir: giant Hindu temple made from 2,000 tonnes of Italian marble (in Neasden, of all places) [photo] Village Underground: two recycled tube carriages atop a Shoreditch viaduct, used as artists' studios (Saturday only) King's Place: major new mixed-use development on the rail-lands north of King's Cross (not yet open, so this is a building site visit) Hoover Building: Art Deco façade along the A40 which now conceals a Tesco supermarket behind (queues likely) [photo] Wilton's Music Hall: the oldest surviving Music Hall in London, off Cable Street (part of the BBC's Restoration series) St Augustine's Tower: climb to the top of this lone 13th century tower beside Hackney's Narroway (ooh, I never realised you could go up that) (photo) The Roof Gardens (formerly Derry & Toms): one and a half acres of horticultural splendour, 100 feet above Kensington High Street (queues likely) (Sunday morning only) 120 Fleet Street: impressive Art Deco foyer to what was once Daily Express HQ (queues likely) [photo] St Mary's Church: medieval church in Bow, now sat on an island in the middle of the A11 (I've lived right next to it for six years, but I've never once been inside) [photo]
10 Open House venues I can heartily recommend from previous years Crossness Engines House: gobsmacking Victorian water-pumping works on the Bexley riverside (queues likely) [photos] Foreign Office & India Office: opulent government building in Whitehall, paid for by the fruits of empire (queues likely) (gorgeous) Freemasons' Hall: ornamental inner temple in Holborn, and HQ of the rolled-up trouser brigade (trowel not essential) Royal Courts of Justice: see behind the scenes of this vast Gothic building, including courtrooms and police cells (my favourite visit from last year) (tons to see) (Saturday only) Severndroog Castle: triangular folly atop Shooter's Hill, with panoramic views from the roof (long queues likely) Lloyd's of London: iconic City insurance behemoth, with the inside on the outside (long queues likely) (Saturday only) [photo] More London: shiny glass offices beside City Hall where accountants make lots of money (Saturday afternoon only) (you may need a head for heights crossing the atrium 9 floors up) House Mill: The UK's oldest and largest tidal mill, on the River Lea in Bromley-by-Bow (next to the Hell's Kitchen studios) 19 Princelet Street: Huguenot silk merchant's East End home, with a synagogue built into the rear of the house (now the Museum of Immigration and Diversity) [photo] Balfron Tower: Trellick Tower's older, shorter, and lesser known sister (it's in Poplar) (see inside a top floor flat) (get there early)
Home Office HQ: major new Government building in Victoria (you had to sign up online for this one, but it wasn't listed in the Open House booklet so none of the tours filled up) (alas, bookings have just closed)
