The guide to the London Open House weekend will go live on Friday morning, and reveal the details of those venues that need booking in advance.
Normally, I would be sitting there eagerly waiting with my list ready as I would have paid for the printed guide. But it hasn’t arrived. In fact, over the past few years the benefit of paying for the guide has diminished to the point that I am wondering why I bother.
Anyhow…
A few venues are using Eventbrite to handle booking following the fiasco a couple of years back when everything broke down. Sadly, some venues are still email or ballots, meaning that you wont know what you have for hours, if not days — which makes planning damndably difficult.
However, those that are using Eventbrite can be guessed at via that website search, and here are a few highlights:
Many of them say “sold out”, but that’s because booking is not supposed to start until Friday morning!
The tree house is a timber framed and reclaimed timber clad addition to two 1830’s terraced cottages. Its ramped interior reframes the activities of the house around the garden, absorbing the ½ storey level differences.
Tours of the Horniman Museums’s Original 1901 Building
A behind the scenes tour of the 1901 museum building which was designed by Edwardian architect Charles Harrison Townsend.
Tour of Highpoint foyers, gardens and interior of a flat.
Caledonian Park Clock Tower Open Day
Guided tours providing a rare opportunity to access the 50 metre high, historic Caledonian Park clock tower, see the impressive working clock mechanism and enjoy the spectacular views over London from the top.
Fishmongers’ Hall is a rare example of a Greek Revival town building, featuring an arcaded granite base and a riverside terrace. Designed by the architect Henry Roberts and built between 1832 and 1835, the Hall’s classical simplicity is contrasted by the magnificence of its interior rooms.
You will be introduced to the history of the building, and hope to see the hotel lobby and grand staircase, go up to the 5th floor and see an apartment in the Clock Tower before returning to the forecourt of the station.
Tour of Dunboyne Road Estate guided by original architect and resident Neave Brown and local resident, architect Takeshi Hayatsu.
…Crossrail will also open up three building sites for tours, but bookings for those don’t open for a couple of weeks, so I will flag them up later.
I’m also wondering where my guide is, although I see some people have received theirs already. As I can’t afford to faff around online on Friday morning, because I have something called a job, I too am less than impressed.
Here’s a quick list of the entries requesting advance booking this year. E&OE.
Barking & Dagenham
Castle Green
Closed Loop Recycling
Dagenham Park Church of England School
The Broadway
Revealing the Roding (walk)
Barnet
Phoenix Cinema
Wrotham Park
Brent
Underground Bunker, Neasden
Wembley WC Pavilion
Bromley
Bromley and Sheppard’s College
Camden Place (Chislehurst Golf Club)
St. Mark’s Square
The Churchill
Camden
British Medical Association House
British Museum, World Conservation and Exhibition Centre
Dunboyne Road Estate (formerly Fleet Road Estate)
Government Art Collection
King’s Cross Public Realm
Lullaby Factory, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal College of General Practitioners
St. Pancras Chambers and Clock Tower
St. Pancras International
The Coach House
City of London
Barbican Centre
Broadgate Tower
CityPoint (Simmons & Simmons’ offices only)
Crossrail Moorgate Construction Site
Fishmongers’ Hall
Mansion House
St. Paul’s Cathedral – Triforium Tour
Tower 42
Watermen’s Hall
Sculpture in the City 2014 (walk)
Croydon
Fairfield Halls
Whitgift Almshouses
Enfield
North London Hospice
Priory Hospital North London
Greenwich
21st Century Span House
Emirates Air Line tour with ICE
St. Alfege Church, Greenwich
University of Greenwich, Stockwell Street
Hackney
Adelaide Wharf
Hackney Empire
Stoke Newington School Media Arts and Science College
Waddington Studios
Clissold Park (walk)
Further beyond the Olympic Park – Nort to Walthamstow Wetlands (Sat), South to the Thames (Sun) (walk)
Hammersmith & Fulham
BBC Television Centre Masterplan
Bush Theatre
Charing Cross Hospital
Fulham Palace
V&A Study Centre, Blythe House
Haringey
66-68 Stapleton Hall Road
Discover 150 years of Alexandra Park and Palace History
Highpoint
Havering
The Queen’s Theatre
The Round House
Rainham Hall and Marshes (walk)
Hillingdon
Old Water Tower
Hounslow
Gunnersbury Park & Museum
St. Mary’s Convent
Gunnersbury Park Landscape Tour (walk)
Hounslow Open House Guided Cycle Tour (cycle)
Islington
Caledonian Park Clocktower
Crossrail Farringdon Construction Site
John Jones Arts Building
Oak Rooms, New River Head
St. Paul Street
Kensington & Chelsea
Royal Danish Embassy
Victoria and Albert Museum
Lambeth
BFI IMAX
City Heights E-ACT Academy
Lambeth Palace
Young Vic
Lewisham
Forest Mews
Horniman Museum and Gardens
The Green Man (Phoenix Community Housing)
Merton
31b St. Mary’s Road
Baitul Futuh Mosque
Newham
Abbey Mills Pumping Station
Connaught Tunnel
Lee Tunnel & Beckton Sludge Power Generator
Old Ford Water Recycling Plant
Waterside Park
Richmond
Garden Room House
Pope’s Grotto and Radnor House School
Richmond Theatre
Southwark
95, Choumert Road
240, Blackfriars
Crystal Palace Subway
artouride cycle tour (cycle)
Tower Hamlets
Bow School
Mint Street
One Canada Square, Marketing Suite and Level 39
Roominaroom
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
SS Robin
St. Andrew’s
The Floating Cinema: The International Village Shop Workshop and Tour
The Tree House
Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives
Whitechapel Gallery
Waltham Forest
Highams Green
Vestry House Museum
Walthamstow Library
Wandsworth
Clapham House
Nine Elms: Riverlight
New Covent Garden Flower Market – tour
Nine Elms Walk (walk)
Westminster
55, Broadway (London Underground Head Office)
Burlington House – The Geological Society of London
Caldeonian Club
Channel Four Television
Delfina Foundation
Dover House, Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
Fashion Space Gallery Roof Garden
Former Conservative Club (HSBC offices)
Gap House
Home House
Lindo Wing, St. Mary’s Hospital
London School of Economics: Saw Swee Hock Student Centre
London Victoria Railway Station
One Great George Street – Institution of Civil Engineers (MONDAY)
Oriental Club
Reform Club
St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington
The House of St. Barnabas
The Learning Centre at The Mall Galleries
The London Library
The Queen’s Chapel (St. James’ Palace)
Two Temple Place
‘Do the West End Walk’ with Atkins (walk)
Brunel’s Paddington: Then and Now (walk)
The Northbank Revealed (walk)
The Northbank Revealed – St. Clement Dane Church and St. Mary Le Strand (walk)
victoria station are running tours on top of their roof. Seems to be balloted – http://www.networkrail.co.uk/vicopenhouse
You can (or could in previous years) pick up the printed booklet free from libraries.
Gosh – Connaught Tunnel – Max. 2 places per booking!!
Anyone else seem to be having problems with 55 Broadway? The link given on the site (https://www.tflevents.co.uk/55broadway) returns me with a ‘Sorry, your page request could not be completed’. Could be that the tickets are all gone I suppose, although I’ve been trying all morning!
It’s the same link they used last year. It wasn’t working yesterday either.
The link on the Open House website appears to be wrong!
I booked using this link: http://www.cvent.com/events/open-house-2014-55-broadway/event-summary-ed4e6f9ac4b84a9587a83e1413b22b18.aspx (I searched on Google)
It seems barely anyone has found this, as there still appears to be lots of availability…