A giant scale model of London covering most of Zones 1-3 will be on display in King’s Cross this summer.

It’s a model that has already been on display at the Building Centre near Tottenham Court Road, but with a new extension to add Wembley, it’s appearing at the NLA’s new building in King’s Cross.

It shows off, in 3D all the main buildings in London, current and planned, along with rail transport links. Although designed to show off London’s developments, it’s always been popular with the public whenever I’ve been in the Building Centre for exhibitions.

At 12.5 metres-long, the model covers more than 85 square kilometres of London, 19 Boroughs and approximately 170,000 buildings, including 34km of the Thames with its corresponding 21 bridges. It extends from King’s Cross in the north to Peckham in the south and the Royal Docks in the east to Old Oak Common in the west and it includes the brand new extension of Wembley.

Without overcomplicating it, basically, it’s just really good fun to look at. Kids love it as well.

The Pipers model of London will be at the Coal Drops Yard behind King’s Cross station from 1st July to 21st September.

Opening hours will be Mon-Fri 8am-6pm and Sat-Sun 10am-6pm. Entry is free.

A free lunchtime talk will be held most Fridays at 12:30 – book here.

Two exhibitions will also open, one showcasing London’s best home improvements with this year’s winners, and one about London’s development history and NLA’s role in shaping the future of the capital.

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5 comments
  1. Simon R says:
    19 June 2021 at 4:43 pm

    Catching up at last with New York – there is a wonderful panorama of NYC in the Queens Museum there – https://queensmuseum.org/2013/10/panorama-of-the-city-of-new-york
    Hope this will find a permanent home

    • ianVisits says:
      19 June 2021 at 4:45 pm

      The London model has been in the Building Centre for well over a decade — it’s been upgraded a couple of times and is now moving to Kings Cross for the summer.
      It has a permanent home at the Building Centre.

  2. Alan Simpson says:
    20 June 2021 at 9:03 am

    Wasn’t there once a similar model (it might have been the same model) in the basement at City Hall?

  3. Chris Rogers says:
    20 June 2021 at 9:36 am

    A curious move. Ah well. The larger-scale City model by Pipers remains at the ‘City Centre’ in Basinghall St and can be seen from time to time.

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