If you like nosing around other people’s pads then you won’t wanna miss Open House Festival
For two weeks in September hundreds of buildings in the capital, many of which are usually closed to the public, swing open their doors and let you have a look inside. The charity Open City, whose mission is to make architecture and spaces more accessible to the communities that live around them, runs Open House Festival to encourage people to visit new places and help them engage with the city they live in. The festival encompasses hundreds of sites across all 33 boroughs of London and draws in tens of thousands of visitors, and this year is set to be its biggest edition yet.
Each year the Open House Festival programme is packed with a range of events like walking tours, workshops, guided tours and a whole host of buildings open for drop-ins. Some of the walking tour highlights include a tour of literary locations in London, the Herbarium at Kew Gardens, the bricks of Brick Lane, and Rana Begum’s Little Citadel.
The guided tours and drop-in sessions run at participating buildings are the jewel in the crown of Open House Festival, and the first batch of buildings included in 2025’s programme have been revealed. This year you can take a look inside Sadler’s Wells East, the London Film School, the Museum of Homelessness, Tooting Bec House, Two Temple Place, the Mildmay Club, the Museum of Transology, the Isokon Building, Nunhead Cemetary House, The Smallest Gallery in Soho, A is for Architecture, and Leadenhall Market.
There are some buildings featured on the Open House programme that are extra special, with tours of these being run via a public ticket ballot. This year they include 10 Downing Street, the BT Tower, BBC Broadcasting House, Canada House, the as-yet-unfinished London Museum, and a walking tour led by author Jack Chesher. The public ballot for these experiences is now open (it’s free to enter) and will close and be drawn randomly on 18th August.
Key Information
Dates | Sat 13th September – Sun 21st September 2025
Address | Various London locations
For more information | openhouse.org.uk
