Press Release: Top five hidden London gems opening their doors for the 2021 Open House Festival
1 September 2021
A hidden air raid shelter in East Sheen, a courtyard garden on a disused Bermondsey car park, and one of London’s least known great Modernist estates in Greenwich – five hidden gems of 2021 Open House Festival.
Open House Festival, the nine-day celebration of London’s architecture and urban landscapes, has launched its full programme for 2021
Hidden gems include a cleverly disguised second world war air raid shelter in East Sheen, Peveril Gardens and Studios by Sanchez Benton, the lesser-known Vanbrugh Estate by Barbican architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, and the UK’s only Brutalist Quaker Meeting House.
A focus on the capital’s urban realm in its entirety, highlighting architecture both in the centre and the wider boroughs.
Five hidden gems from the Open House Festival programme in detail:
New River Head - Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, Clerkenwell
This 17th century engine room that powered the distribution of fresh drinking water through industrialising London sits surreptitiously in the middle of Clerkenwell. The mighty brick structure of New River Head, with its rich history of innovative civil engineering, is now due to be renovated by Tim Ronalds Architects and become the home of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.
Guided tours will be taking place on Saturday 11 September between 11am and 3:30pm
Peveril Gardens and Studios by Sanchez Benton, Southwark
Recently named a finalist in Open City’s inaugural Stewardship Awards, Peveril Gardens and Studios is a generous and considerate conversion of a series of neglected lock-up garages into a thriving community of artist studios and walled-public gardens. The embodied carbon and energy of the project was considered at all stages of the conversion resulting in innovative design choices, such as repurposing existing garage doors to make the gates to the roof garden.
Talk given by the architect on Monday 6 September across three sessions starting at 12pm.
Blackheath Quaker Meeting House by Trevor Dannatt, Blackheath
This Grade II-listed Quaker Meeting House is set in a conservation area and was designed to remain in-keeping with its unique and historic context. Designed as a split-level building in the Brutalist-style by the acclaimed architect Trevor Dannatt in 1972 and following Quaker principles of simplicity and quiet, the interior and exterior architecture is minimalist and the main meeting room is hidden behind two sets of doors. What the main room lacks in noise, it makes it up in light with an impressive square lantern and dramatic skylights.
Volunteers will show visitors around between 10am to 4pm on Saturday 11 September
St Leonards Court Air Raid Shelter by Philip A W Roffey, East Sheen
Appearing like an old dovecote or garden storeroom from surface level, the St Leonards Court Air Raid Shelter is a squat conical brick building that leads underground into a stunning concrete-reinforced room. The shelter was designed to accommodate around 120 people with facilities including two chemical toilets, bunk beds and benches running along the walls. The shelter still hosts original details like numbered wall hooks for hanging personal items and handmade lampshades. Such innovative additions led to the shelter being known as the ‘day room’ and saw it later influence the design of other air raid bunkers.
Guided tours will take place on Sunday 6 September from 1pm and 4:30pm. Please check availability and book ahead
Vanbrugh Estate by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, Blackheath
Vanbrugh Estate is a lesser-known estate designed by the architects who designed the Barbican and Golden Lane Estate: Chamberlain, Powell and Bon. An impressive central tower block acts as a focal point to the 1963 development which is enclosed by a series of breeze-block terraces with details such as space-age kitchen windows. The concrete posts of the original communal washing lines still pepper the estate.
Resident-led tours between 11am and 5pm on Saturday 11 September.
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Quotes
Siân Milliner, Head of Open House Festival, said: “In 2021 the Open House Festival is back with hundreds of in-person events which celebrate the reopening of cultural life across the capital. We hope the festival will strengthen London’s cultural and economic recovery and promote walking and cycling across all 33 boroughs.”
Notes
The 2021 Open House Festival will launch on Saturday 4 September and run for nine days until Sunday 12 September.
Full listings for the 2021 Open House Festival are now live at www.openhouselondon.org.uk/2021
In order to facilitate contact tracing, visitors are required to book ahead for most events.
The vast majority of events that form part of the 2021 Open House Festival are free.
In a typical year the London Open House Festival attracts 250,000 visitors making it the largest and most inclusive event of its kind in the world.
There are 50 other Open House Festivals around the world including in New York City, Lagos, Taipei and Zurich which are supported by Open City, the charity behind the Open House Festival.
Contacts
Please contact press@open-city.org.uk with enquiries.