Sunday 21 September 2014

Open House London 2014 Day 1 Part 2

After Bloomsbury I went off to Liverpool Street to visit Broadgate City of London: Behind the Scenes, which is a model showing the huge amount of work being done at Broadgate (Broadgate Circle to reopen in 2015!). I like models showing building works and in fact visited a different one at a previous Open House. I also visited New London Architecture and blogged about it here ages ago (http://metropolithan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/new-london-architecture.html).

A very nice lady explained the model to me, and then I forgot to take any photos of it. However I think that the visitor centre is open to the public so it's worth popping in if you're near Liverpool Street. The lady (I didn't get her name) also gave me some leaflets about what's going on at Broadgate, which is how I found out that the Finsbury Avenue floor lights up at night, so obviously I need to get down there post haste (http://www.broadgate.co.uk/art/LitFloor). 

As I failed to get any pictures of the model, here is a link to the architecture part of the website: http://www.broadgate.co.uk/Architecture.

I then went off to 10 Exchange Sqaure for a rooftop tour (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) which was miraculously being offered without pre-booking. Sadly it was quite cloudy by this point BUT SERIOUSLY, ROOFTOP TOUR. So yes, there was a tall building, you could go up it, I went up it, HURRAH. 

Outside and inside the building:



Roof views:










I thought I had gone to six places but looking at my photos and notes it seems to be five. I'm now trying to work out whether I've accidentally counted the Embassy of Belgium (I did go there but their spaces were filled) or whether I went somewhere and forgot about it. I did go past quite a few of the sites in the city but didn't actually visit them. 



Open House London 2014 Day 1 Part 1

Open House is a weekend that runs in September where buildings in London are open to the public. For the past three years I've been away during Open House BUT NOT THIS YEAR. This year I am here and I have been planning. 

There are over 800 sites taking part and the maximum I have ever managed in a weekend is 9, so first I had to narrow it down. Then I had to narrow it down again. And then again. There were custom maps involved, it was GREAT. I got it down to 19, but even that is mostly a guide as yesterday I visited 6 sites, two of which weren't even on the list (I tried to go to another 4 but two had big queues, one was full and on the way to the third I realised I'd get there too late to get in). 

I started off at Friendship House, which is an hostel accommodation place near Borough tube station. The guy who gave me a tour seemed to be a little confused as to why I had turned up for a tour when I wasn't looking to stay there, but hey, if you open up a building, someone like me will turn up. 

It turned out to be one of those buildings I'd passed on the train hundreds of times but had never really thought about (I presumed that it was flats because I presume everything on the way in to London Bridge is flats). The rooms are self-contained, with mini fridge and mini freezer, there are self-catering kitchens on every floor, a communal quiet space (not quite sure how that bit works tbh) and a gym. It was interesting to have a nose around and if you are looking for somewhere to stay in London it's actually pretty smart and pretty cheap: http://lhalondon.com/friendship-house/






After that I went to the Swedenborg Society on Bloomsbury Way. Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish philosopher and inventor, and the Society is a publisher and bookseller. They also organise events and film screenings (their next showing is a Jim Jarmusch double bill). However I didn't know anything about him or the society but I was interested in the Doulton tiles on the staircase mentioned in the programme*.

The building is a Grade II listed Georgian domestic building that was refurbished in the 1920s. It was a very calm, quiet space and the tiles were lovely. 









(as per usual my camera is weird with light; thinking of getting a new one even though this one still works)

After the Swedenborg Society I went to St George's Bloomsbury, which wasn't on my list but was very close by. I think I might have been before with my sister but I'll have to check with her. 

St George's is the last of Nicholas Hawksmoor's London Churches and it was conscrated in 1730. The chandelier (see below) was once in the V&A (which reminds me, V&A-related update coming up after the Open House stuff). 









There are so many photos I'm going to do the next lot in another entry (especially as they are rooftop photos). 




*Yes, I did so much narrowing down that tiny details like that helped me make the decisions!