The 35th Open House Festival opened across London on 12 September 2026, running until 20 September and giving free public access to more than 800 venues and activities across all 33 of the city’s boroughs, according to organiser Open City.
A landmark’s landmark year
Among the buildings taking part this year is the Lloyd’s Building, Richard Rogers’ high-tech landmark in the City of London, which opened its doors as part of celebrations marking 40 years since its completion. More than 500 of this year’s participating buildings operated as unticketed drop-ins, while others, including sites such as 10 Downing Street and the BT Tower, required advance booking, which opened on 19 August. The festival’s programme, published in mid-July, grouped venues into themed trails including Homes with Stories to Tell, Hidden Histories and Green London.
A festival built on volunteers
Open City, the charity behind the festival, relies on hundreds of volunteers each year to staff participating buildings and guide visitors, many of whom would otherwise have no access to private commercial or residential buildings across the city. “I always loved London. Open House just makes me discover new reasons to love it,” one visitor said of the event, according to the organiser.
The festival has run every September since 1992, and over more than three decades has grown from a small architectural showcase into one of the largest events of its kind in the world, now spanning talks and walking tours alongside the building openings themselves.
Why It Matters
Much of London’s most significant architecture sits behind office security desks and private doors, invisible to anyone without a reason to be there. By opening those buildings for one week a year, Open House gives ordinary Londoners and visitors a rare, free way to understand the city’s built environment directly rather than through photographs, while giving the buildings themselves a moment of public engagement most commercial towers never otherwise get.
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