It's Architectural Christmas. It's London Open House. But where to visit?
10 Open House venues where you might spot me this weekend » Lambeth Palace: the Archbishop's ancient riverside pad (Saturday only) [photo] » Royal Institution: just-reopened crucible of science, the one that hosts Christmas lectures (Saturday only) (tours and demos throughout the day) » Old Turkish Baths: a tiny minaretted curiosity, now an underground pizza restaurant (near Liverpool Street) [photo] » Hoover Building: Art Deco façade along the A40 which now conceals a Tesco supermarket (queues likely) [photos] » Barnardo's Village: Victorian children's estate with church and 70 cottages (in Barkingside, of all places) » Finsbury Town Hall: Art Nouveau civic HQ » 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) » Bevis Marks synagogue: the oldest synagogue in Britain, in the City (Sunday only) » Greenwich Yacht Club: wood & metal pierhouse, stuck out into the Thames (with Dome/Barrier views) » William Booth College: Climb the massive brick tower at the Sally Army training centre in Denmark Hill (Saturday afternoon)
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) (Sunday only) [photos][I've been] » 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) (Saturday only) » Royal Courts of Justice: see behind the scenes of this vast Gothic building, including courtrooms and police cells (tons to see) (Saturday only) » Severndroog Castle: triangular folly on 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] » Shri Swaminarayan Mandir: giant Hindu temple made from 2,000 tonnes of Italian marble (in Neasden, of all places) (dress respectfully) [photo] » Village Underground: two recycled tube carriages aloft on a Shoreditch viaduct, used as artists' studios (Saturday only) [photos] » Roof Gardens: unlikely oasis atop Derry & Toms in Kensington High Street (Sunday 8am-11am) (the queues last year were scary, so arrive early) [photo][I've been] » Benjamin Franklin House: Take a unique acted tour round this American statesman's home near Charing Cross (Saturday only) [I've been]
10 Open House venues in Tower Hamlets » Trinity Buoy Wharf: London's only lighthouse is here, opposite the Dome, along with Container City and Fatboy's Diner(there's a 10th Birthday regatta and arts festival this weekend, so well worth visiting for the extra activities) [I've been] » Balfron Tower: Trellick Tower's older, shorter, and lesser known sister (it's in Poplar) (see inside a top floor flat) [I've been] » 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] » Queen Mary University: tour the exterior of the main campus buildings, and the poddy interior of the molecular research laboratory (also amongst Londonist's many recommendations) » Wilton's Music Hall: London's oldest surviving music hall, still with the wow factor (dark, rickety and atmospheric) (Sunday only) [photo] » Kingsley Hall: pioneering E3 community centre, as stayed in by Gandhi (see his rooftop cell) (Saturday only) » Bromley Hall: Henry VIII's former hunting lodge (on the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road) » Donnybrook Quarter: modern Mediterranean-looking development in deepest Bow (award winning, innit?) [photo] » House Mill: the UK's oldest and largest tidal mill, on the River Lea in Bromley-by-Bow » St Mary's-by-the-Flyover: my local medieval church, the one in the middle of the road (it's not in the Guide but it must be open because the vicar's hung a big Open House sign outside)
» Lambeth Palace: the Archbishop's ancient riverside pad (Saturday only) [photo]
