Interested in opening or running an event for Open House?

If you are interested in opening your building or running an event as part of the Open House festival you can find some commonly asked questions below.

If you are already taking part and need to log in to complete your online registration, go to our Open House Registration System.

Being part of the festival is an amazing experience and a great way of including yourself in London’s cultural calendar. Visitors travel from all over the world to learn more about the architecture of the city and we hope that they will be able to learn from you this year. Taking part in the event is a rewarding, valuable experience which can help communities come together to learn more about architecture. We are grateful for the support of all of the property owners and organisers who offer their time and resources to help make this event happen. 

Through working together, the event provides:

→ an opportunity to be part of UK’s largest showcase of architecture and design

→ a sense of ownership and belonging, and a unique opportunity for community engagement

→ high public awareness

→ positive association with a powerful and respected brand giving PR value by association

→ additional opportunity for targeted print, web and e-marketing, our outputs reach millions annually

1. How long do I have to open for?

It is entirely up to you, it could be just a morning or afternoon on one or both days of the event, whichever you feel is manageable and suitable, all we ask is for it to be a minimum of 2 hours

2. What are the different methods of opening?

There are a number of ways you can open your building on the weekend:

a. Informal general access

b. Informal access but with limited numbers at set intervals

c. Guided tours at set times

d. Pre-booking required via email or a website (we don’t recommend this option as it is not as inclusive as the other methods of opening, but we appreciate booking in advance is sometimes the only way a building can take part in the programme). If you would like to make your building pre-bookable you will need to speak to a member of the Open House team. 

Decide in advance the size of groups being shown around and how these will be staggered. Think practically about the size of the spaces visitors will be seeing – keep in mind health and safety. Also think about giving yourself and your guides a break in between tours in order to rest and allow for over-run. Our research has shown that guided tours are one of the most effective ways of passing on architectural information and so are worth considering, no matter how informal in structure.

3. How do I plan a route around the building?

Select a route that will highlight its design features and give a good overview of the architecture, and different functional spaces. The tour duration can be anything from 15 minutes to an hour, or more, this is up to you to decide. Remember the aim of Open House London is to focus on the architectural design. You might also want to set up a space where people can wait for access or for the next tour to happen, or you might request that they wait outside with a volunteer manning the entrance, giving an indication of waiting time and handing out Factsheets about the building. We have a large pool of volunteers should you need extra help on the weekend, see below for more information.

4. How should I staff the building?

You will need to decide who will be assisting you to show visitors around the building, eg staff, architects, friends, family or other volunteers. We can try to provide volunteer stewards or guides if needed, there is an opportunity to request this on our database. When assessing the need for volunteer stewards take queue management and access control into account, you may need extra help to ensure visitors don’t stray into areas they shouldn’t and to manage queues outside the building. 

Ideally, we would like any contemporary or recently renovated building to have an architect from the practice in attendance on the day in order to pass on detailed information to the visiting public. They might even be able to bring along some plans, drawings or pictures of the construction process. We will provide ‘How may we help’ stickers and ‘Volunteer’ badges prior to the weekend. Consider where visitors will be met and if there will be a signing in desk to answer questions and keep tabs on numbers. Volunteer guides will need to be briefed in advance of the day. They will need to know the route they are taking visitors on and be able to answer questions about the building, such as who the architects are; the history and use of the building; what the design brief was, if relevant, and how this has been achieved; and what each room/space is used for, pointing out special design features and other interesting facts or anecdotes. Volunteers must also know fire exit procedures.

5. What will visitors be interested in learning?

• History of the building and its use

• Ideas behind the design process

• How the building has evolved

• How the building works in its context

• Architectural features and ornamentation

• Materials used and why they might have been chosen

• Use of sustainable materials if relevant

• Light and ventilation

• Disabled accessibility if relevant – ramps, wide corridors, one-level building

• How spaces make a visitor feel

6. Should there be any information available?

We request that detailed information about the building is made available to visitors. This can be downloaded from the Open House database once all of the information has been submitted, it includes the architect, date, address and the factsheet text. This should be one A4 sheet of paper, something visitors can take away with them. One of our volunteers can also research and write the copy for you if requested in advance. The factsheets will also be uploaded onto the Open House website for the public to view.

7. What about insurance and health and safety?

Open House provides public liability insurance free of charge, which covers you against anyone causing themselves injury whilst in your building or property damage, details of the policy will be sent to you prior to the event. Please note, bike and bus tours are not covered. Visitors should not be allowed access into unsafe areas, and dangerous activities should not take place. Otherwise, reasonable precaution should be taken to ensure the safety of visitors such as not overcrowding a space and keeping doors shut to rooms you don’t want to make accessible. If there is a queue ensure it is being stewarded and keep people in an orderly line on the pavement etc. If there are fire exits ensure that the staff on the day know where they are located. We can send you a risk assessment sheet on request which would also aid in this regard. In terms of photography, most visitors will have cameras and will be keen to use them in the spirit of the event. If you cannot accept photography inside your building, you must let us know in advance of June so that we can include details in your programme entry.

8. What facilities will visitors expect on the weekend?

Please do provide access to toilet facilities if you are able to, we understand this isn’t always possible. Please also think about where you might need to signpost different elements e.g. entrance/exit, toilets, disabled access.

9. How will visitors know our building is part of Open House London?

We provide an Open House London poster and if requested a banner and ask it is on display outside each site to identify the building as part of the event. On occasion, queues form outside the building so it is important to think about where the queue can form safely.

10. Can we do something extra other than opening our doors?

Spotlight events can be programmed by the participant to coincide with the weekend opening. This can be a specific tour from an architect or engineer, children’s activities or special presentations. Please state your interest in holding a spotlight event in the special events section on the database. Factsheets and interpretation materials are also important and help to enrich the visitor experience. Open City will provide factsheet templates for all participants to return which will be uploaded onto the Open House website 

11. What do I do if visitors want to make donations?

As an independent charity, Open City regularly receives support through donations over the weekend of Open House. If you are able to collect donations on our behalf, we would greatly appreciate your support.

12. What does Open City need from me after the event?

In order to build on the success of Open House London each year, it is very important that proper feedback and audience research is obtained, including visitor numbers and we would be grateful for your assistance with this. We will provide a visitor survey for you to make available on the day, and we would be very grateful if you could put a system in place to count visitor numbers. This can be through manually counting or through sign-in/visitor books. As well as being a good way to have an idea of how many people have attended your open day, a visitor book also gives you a record of what will have been a fun, enjoyable, and often busy but exhilarating experience for everyone!

13. How is Open House funded?

Open House London is funded through a number of sources: financial contributions from individual London local authority councils; commercial sponsorship; individual donations; and trusts and foundations for the educational projects within the annual event.

14. Do we have to pay to be included?

You can opt in and become an Official Building Participant (£199 + VAT). This cost guarantees your participation in the Open House festival in September, as well as a number of additional benefits:

• guaranteed social media advertising in the event build up

• materials package (including banners, posters and volunteer badges/stickers)

• a mention in one of the Open City e-newsletters

There are also other options available for Architects practices, those with multiple buildings or those who wish to become an official Sponsor of Open House. If you are part of a small site or community project and would like to take part in the festival but cannot afford to pay the fee for the Individual Building then please contact Open House to apply for entry to the festival. Your entry will be supported by your participating local council.