Open House 2023 has now closed its doors for another year. Every year, it seems, brings even more fantastic buildings to visit. Or try to: some of the most interesting buildings are by ballot only; a lottery, in other words. The BT tower, the work in progress on the new Museum of London, 10 Downing Street, Abbey Mills Pumping Station… I put my name down for all of them, didn’t get a single one. Maybe next year…

In the meantime, here’s a photo diary of a selection of visits. If you were undecided about any of the buildings below, maybe the pictures below will sway your decision. It’s also worth noting that several of these buildings are open outside Open House, so you could go and visit them any time you want. Good to know, right?

These are the buildings on this list that you can visit (for free!) outside of Open House, please do check their respective websites for opening hours etc:

• The Fitzrovia Chapel
• St John’s Smith Square
• The Charterhouse
• The People’s Museum in Somers Town

One Livery Hall: livery hall: Salters’ Hall

Area: The City

Livery Halls are buildings owned or used by livery companies, which are trade associations in the City of London. Some of them have a history that goes back centuries. The first livery company, the Weavers, has a history that goes as far back as the 12^th century, for example. The official date of the founding of The Worshipful Company of Salters is 1394, although it was probably active for a few centuries before that, so it has a long lineage too.

The Worshipful Company of Salters has occupied several halls in its history. The current Salter’s Hall was completed in 1976 and redeveloped in 2016. Its original architect was Sir Basil Spence, the man responsible – amongst other things – for the Swiss Cottage library (and also Coventry Cathedral, probably one of the most famous brutalist designs there is). The unusual ribbed texture of the external walls is meant to echo the texture of salt crystals.

Want to find out more about Salters Hall? The Salter’s Hall website has all the info.

After you’ve admired Salter’s Hall, why not head to Dom’s subs and grab one of their amazing sandwiches? (Check the opening hours, though.)

One tiny gold chapel: the Fitzrovia Chapel

Area: Fitzrovia

Middlesex hospital was a London hospital that was closed down and demolished in 2005. Now it’s a development called Fitzroy Place with the usual thingamajigs associated with these projects: offices, shops, eateries and artificial lawns. And thankfully, there remains a little piece of history in the middle of it, and an absolutely gorgeous one at that. The Fitzroy Chapel was built for the hospital staff and patients, and never has the term “hidden gem” been more appropriate. I mean, it’s rather hidden from view, and as for the gem part – just look at the amount of marble, and the number of tiny gold mosaics. To whoever made the executive decision to have this amazing building restored – thank you!!

The chapel is open to the public most Wednesdays, and whenever there’s an exhibition going on (and there are quite a few of them). If you’d like to visit, the Fitzroy Chapel website has all the info you need.

Two synagogues: New West End Synagogue and Sandys Row Synagogue

Area: Bayswater; Spitalfields

A study in contrast, these two.

The magnificent New West End Synagogue was built in Victorian times and is cathedral-like in the richness of its ornamentation.

Sandy Row synagogue is the last remaining synagogue in Spitalfields and was built in 1766 as a Huguenot chapel. It was a place of worship for poor East End Ashkenazi immigrants, and the space has a distinctly more pared down (but still beautiful) feel that contrasts with its more opulent West End counterpart.

While you’re in Spitalfields, you might want to visit Rough Trade East and grab a bagel at Beigel Shop?

One concert hall that used to be a church: St John’s Smith Square

Area: Westminster

St. John’s Smith Square was a church for 200 years until it was gutted by an incendiary bomb on the last night of the Blitz. Today, you’d never know that after the war, the ruins narrowly escaped being turned into a car park. It’s now one of the most loved concert spaces in London, with an extensive programme of events (some of which are online), and the crypt has been turned into a cosy café.

There are plenty more things to do in Westminster, too.

One Architecture Foundation: Zaha Hadid Foundation

Area: Clerkenwell

Zaha Hadid is probably one of the most famous architects of the 21^st century. She passed away in 2016, but her legacy lives on in both the architecture studio she founded, and the Zaha Hadid foundation. It’s a young foundation, located in the offices that were Zaha Hadid’s until her death, a beautiful, bright airy space converted from what was once a Victorian school building. The foundation run workshops in the community and there are plans to organize regular exhibitions in the future, so do watch their website.

While you’re in the area… Clerkenwell is one of the nicest areas of London to explore, with some wonderful shops.

One former monastery with many lives: The Charterhouse

Area: Farringdon

The Charterhouse has been a Carthusian monastery built upon a Black Death burial site, a Tudor mansion and a school for boys together with almshouses for elderly men (which are called brothers as a nod to the monastic past of the building). Today, the school still exists but has relocated to Godalming in Surrey, and the almshouses are now open to women, who are also called “brothers” (I rather love this fact!).

There’s a museum with an active programme of events including, around Christmas, candlelit tours. The museum is open all year, but during Open House, there was a special tour of the whole precinct, which is much larger than the museum grounds, and features some absolutely lovely courtyard gardens.

And after you’ve visited the Charterhouse, why not visit the Museum of the Order of St John nearby? And on Wednesdays and Thursdays, you could head to Cowcross Yard for the street food market and try some of the food there. I had one of the wraps from Utopia.

One most interesting little museum: the People’s Museum in Somers Town

Area: Somers Town; Kings Cross

Surely one of the most unique museums in London, the People’s Museum in Somers Town is a grassroots project dedicated to preserving working-class memory and social housing heritage while recording ongoing changes in Somers Town, an area that is facing significant development pressures.

It’s a one room setup jam-packed with mementos from the working class history of the estate (which was built in the period between the two World Wars) area and mementos of the fierce activism in the area. Absolutely fascinating!

One Inn of Court: Lincoln’s Inn

Area: Holborn

If you’ve read the entry about the Temple gardens, you’ll know that an Inn of court is a professional association for barristers in England and Wales and that there are four of them altogether: Gray’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Lincoln’s Inn.

Lincoln’s Inn – or the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn to give it its full name – is 11 acres of historic buildings and peaceful gardens in the middle of London. The grounds and the chapel are actually open to the public during selected times, but on Open House day, you can also visit the Great Hall, the learning centre and the library, and the visit is well worth it. (Can I say “hidden gem” again, or is that overkill?)

Then you can head to Inner temple and Middle Temple and compare and contrast. (The sites share a lot of similarities, actually, which is probably unsurprising.)

One library: The Maughan Library (part of Kings College London)

Area: Holborn

The Maughan Library is one of the most magnificent neo-Gothic buildings in London, and large parts of the building are usually out of bonds for most of us. It was originally home to the Public Record Office (now the National Archives in Kew). Now it’s a library for King’s College, and what a grand library it is.

The dodecagonal reading room was inspired by that of the British Museum and is mightily impressive, but what I found the most fascinating was the storage room (one of many) that used to hold the public records, with metal shelves and thick metal door. No wonder it was known as the strong-box for the Empire, back in the days.

One Impounding Station: at West India Dock

Area: Canary Wharf

West India Dock Impounding station is used to regulate water levels in the docks in Canary Wharf, compensating for water lost via evaporation, for example. It’s administered by the Canal and River Trust rather than Thames Water, but the engines have a similar aesthetics (kinda?) to the Western pumping station (see below). We didn’t get to see them in action, but it was still an amazing sight and a really interesting tour.

While you’re in Canary Wharf… it’s a short bus ride to Trinity Buoy Wharf, one of London’s most magical spots. (D3 is the bus you want.)

Two water pumping stations:

OK, so strictly speaking, this was Open Heritage rather than Open House, but it was a fantastic opportunity all the same to visit two really interesting buildings that you wouldn’t normally get into.

Streatham Pumping Station

Area: Streatham

Streatham Pumping Station, in south London, started out as a well. The first pumping station, built in 1881, was housed in a shed of corrugated iron. The current pumping station – still in use today, albeit with upgraded machinery – was built in 1894 and was much more striking, with the looks of a mini mosque and a wealth of decorative details. The inside is slightly more utilitarian than maybe would be expected from the outside, but the tour organized by Thames Water was still a fascinating glimpse into what it takes to get drinking water to your taps.

Western Pumping station

Area: Pimlico? Belgravia? Chelsea? It seems to stand in a little triangle of no man’s land at the intersection of the three… (If anybody can elaborate on that, I’d love to hear from you!)

Another pumping station? Yes! This one is also administered by Thames Water and is a key part of London’s wastewater drainage system still, despite being over 150 years old. We have Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works, to thank for this one.

From the outside, it looks plainer than Streatham Pumping Station (or as plain as a Victorian building ever gets). Inside? Most of the machinery is as old as the building, and it still works. It’s in fantastic condition, actually. And it’s very, very beautiful, and a joy to watch in action.

Afterwards, you could head back to Victoria for a taco, check out the charity shops in Pimlico, or make your way to Pimlico tube station to catch the tube to Vauxhall, on the other side of the river (it’s only one stop!) and visit two of the most wonderful community gardens in London. And grab a mouth watering sandwich at one of the best Italian delis in London while you’re at it.

And if by any chance these photos inspire you to take your own pictures*, why not join a camera club?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for next year’s Open House.

*if you’re thinking pfffft, I can do better!, that’s fine too. No, really, it’s fine.