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For 25 years, Open House has been giving us the chance to snoop around the capital’s most interesting buildings. When the initiative started back in 1992 just a few hundred people were savvy enough to visit the handful of sites on the list, but fast-forward to next month and a quarter of a million curious folks are expected to view the hidden interiors of over 800 houses, offices and other impressive structures.
To celebrate its silver anniversary, Open House, which to many has become something of a national treasure, asked its audience to tell them their favourite London building from the programme. The top 25 were then illustrated by Graphical House (the design studio who have also given the Open House identity a snazzy new look) and reworked into a capriccio, a fantasy skyline of the capital’s favourite architectural delights all gathered together.
You can see the complete capriccio below along with close-ups of the top ten from the list and the names of the other 15. Keep an eye out for the artwork on a far bigger scale on the London Underground ahead of this year’s Open House (Sep 16-Sep 17) and in miniature when it's made into postcards and a fold-out colouring-in version for you to take home.
This year’s programme will go live on Thursday August 17 but you can preorder a guide here.
1. The Gherkin
2. St Paul’s Cathedral
3. St Pancras Station and Renaissance Hotel
4. The Shard
5. Barbican
6. Lloyd’s Building
7. Houses of Parliament
8. Foreign & Commonwealth Office
9. BT Tower
10. Royal Festival Hall
11. Tower of London
12. Battersea Power Station
13. Two Temple Place
14. King’s Cross Station
15. Sir John Soane’s Museum
16. City Hall
17. National Theatre
18. Royal Albert Hall
19. The Cheesegrater
20. 55 Broadway
21. Banqueting House
22. Senate House
23. Guildhall
24. Trellick Tower
25. Royal Courts of Justice
Take a look at Open House London: our highlights or step inside the House of Dreams, one man’s live-in psychedelic art installation