2026 London Open House highlights – from the architecture festival that opens doors of all kinds

The 2026 London Open House Festival is upon us, with over 600 venues opening their doors to visitors from 12-20 September in one of the capital's biggest architectural celebrations. After the event's closing day (it used to last a weekend, then slowly grew to an entire week due to popular demand), things go quiet for a year, until the cycle restarts. And between festivals, not much happens, right? Wrong.

2026 London Open House and its lasting impact

We spoke to Manijeh Verghese, CEO of Open City, the charity that oversees the London Open House happenings – and everything that takes place behind the scenes in the run-up and after. She tells us that, while, of course, the public-facing, now-eight-day festival has a tremendous impact in terms of promoting architecture in the capital and raising awareness by connecting everyone with buildings they might not otherwise have been able to access, there are indeed many more ways the Open House initiative pays off.

'We strongly believe that the Open House Festival changes people’s relationship with specific places and neighbourhoods as well as with other Londoners,' Verghese says. 'In our surveys of visitors, contributors and volunteers after the festival, we often see people reflect on how the festival makes them feel a greater sense of belonging, or more connected to their local area as well as the city as a whole. We enjoy seeing how visitors become volunteers or even contributors over time, and therefore start to influence the many ways in which we can open up and share our city for collective enjoyment. Seventy per cent of visitors to the 2025 festival said that they were accessing all the spaces that they visited for the first time.'

The lasting, less-expected benefits of Open House London

Looking beyond the festival dates, there are lots of anecdotal stories about young people becoming inspired to enter the architecture profession, or members of the public who experience a space that they otherwise wouldn't have, which changes their world view. The idea of togetherness and learning about each other is arguably a great incentive to take part, too. Yet it is not just the visitors who get to feel a positive impact. Participating venues also have a strong benefit, Verghese explains.

'The Festival is a great way for contributors to experiment and pilot how to open up their spaces in new ways to new audiences. For example, this year, the Zaha Hadid Foundation is opening its archive in the old Design Museum building in Shad Thames to the public for the very first time,' she says. 'Similarly, the festival team engages diverse audiences to uphold our values to prioritise access and inclusion for all. Last year, the festival team asked our two young assistant curators – as alumni from the Open City Accelerate programme for 16-18-year-olds from underrepresented backgrounds – to assist us in visiting an important civic building to look at their festival offer in advance and to sense-check how it might be perceived by young people. We offer training focused on inclusion to all contributors to ensure they have the resources and skills to welcome visitors with different needs.'

Festival director Celia Mead also highlights that taking part is a way for organisations to actively demonstrate their civic conscience. The annual survey of the London Open House Festival has shown that among the participants' 'objectives for taking part', the aims of raising awareness, reaching new audiences, and discussing specific issues in architecture or the environment all ranked quite highly, at 63 per cent, 66 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.

It pays to stick with it too, Verghese says. Long-standing participating venues at Open House London have learned about their own operations over the years at the festival. Feedback from contributors in surveys has helped venues figure out the best way to provide volunteer support, queue management, tours and how best to ensure comfort for visitors and users. Often, the festival becomes an incentive or testing ground for different types of programming within venues, too.

There are lots of stories of participants who feel passionate about the festival, and to unexpected results. 'A favourite story is that of Fabian Watkinson, a musician who has been opening his home in Highgate New Town since 2001,' continues Verghese. 'He thought he would do it for a few years and then everyone would have seen it, but it continues to be extremely popular each year, with his tours getting fully booked in a matter of minutes! Over the years, he has also become an expert on modernist social housing through his tours for Open House visitors and social tenants who are placed in the estate, to give them a sense of pride in their area.'

While you might not think the London Open House Festival is linked to planning decisions or policy changes, there are surprising and impactful benefits for the public in this realm too. Several multi-year partnerships with different London Boroughs through their involvement in the festival were aligned to help them deliver on their cultural strategies.

Verghese highlights: 'Haringey is a great example of a borough where we are not only working with them on the festival but also with a cohort as part of our tour guide training programme, The Golden Key Academy. They have created fully funded places for local people, often community leaders, to train as tour guides and tell new stories about the area. Called the Rebel Guides, they will launch their tours during this year’s festival and will then continue to deliver them next year when Haringey is the London Borough of Culture.'

So, what's in store at the 2026 London Open House Festival?

This year, the festival returns for its 35th edition with quite a few bangers for your to-visit list. The programme contains somewhere between 600 and 700 listings for venues far and wide across the capital. From a sneak peek into the rarely open Zaha Hadid Foundation archive (our October 2026 issue story took the deep dive) to celebrating 40 years since the launch of Richard Rogers Partnership's (and we do not take this word lightly) iconic high-tech architecture at Lloyd's of London in the City, several lesser-known gems and rarely open hits have joined the list of options.

You can tour 10 Downing Street and explore the Barbican Conservatory before it is updated by Harris Bugg Studio; and of course there is a wealth of private homes, innovative and everyday, but all exceptionally designed and worth a browse – whether you are seeking home-improvement inspiration or are simply archi-curious.

'What is great about the festival is that the monumental and civic sit alongside the social, domestic and everyday – reflecting the complex mix of spaces that make up cities. Visitors choose to navigate the programme in a variety of ways, whether that’s through our themed collections, their own unique interests, their immediate neighbourhood, a planned set of visits based on bookings, or [simply] what they can encounter that is available for drop-ins,' says Verghese.

'While the iconic spaces like Lloyds or Downing Street attract large numbers of visitors who want the chance to see inside, popular spaces include private homes, faith and community spaces, as well as open studios for practices where you get a chance to see inside [creatives'] processes and ways of working. New models of social or affordable housing or new ways of living and working together are increasing in popularity, with the festival an ideal way to share these innovative alternatives with a wide audience.'

Manijeh Verghese’s highlights for 2026

Manijeh Verghese picked three favourites from this year's programme. In her words...

Wapping Hydraulic Power Station

'Wapping Hydraulic Power Station is new to the programme this year and provides a rare opportunity to visit London’s last hydraulic power station to be decommissioned. Built in 1890, it has been closed for the last ten years but is now entering a new era under the custodianship of the Glass Castle Foundation, which is transforming it into a centre for experimental arts.'

Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores

'Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores is a unique and immersive theatre space in Wembley that works with families, schools and communities. Tours of the space will showcase the different objects that fill its shelves and discuss how these have been developed with young people in Brent. Unfortunately, this is now fully booked, but you can check out an incredible range of drop-ins in our No Booking Needed collection.'

Humanise Spotters Guide

'As a way to better understand and experience what makes a building interesting, characterful and joyful, the Humanise campaign has created a downloadable, mobile-friendly spotters' guide to invite the public to look more closely and ask questions of our built environment. To test this out, visitors are invited to explore King's Cross, starting at Heatherwick Studio’s Making House and taking in 11 other buildings en route.'

5 Wallpaper* highlights to book for 2026 Open House London

It's nearly impossible to narrow down a nearly 700-item list to just five – if nothing else, because we want to be everywhere and see everything. However, if we really had to, these are five events that feel special within the 2026 Open House London festival programme.

The Lloyd’s Building

Initially criticised for its unusual look, the 14-storey building, designed as the home of insurers Lloyd’s of London, is now a beloved landmark. The project was built as three towers, each with its own service section. They surround a central 60m-high atrium flooded with natural light. The building, in the heart of the City of London is now Grade I listed, described by Historic England as ‘one of the key buildings of the modern epoch’.

Zaha Hadid Foundation

The Zaha Hadid Foundation is entering a bold new era, driven by a visionary director, Aric Chen, who is intent on protecting, preserving and promoting the late, great architect’s legacy. The great architect's archive is housed in the old Design Museum building in Shad Thames and will be open for tours in a rare opportunity to explore the architectural legacy – and personality – of Zaha Hadid.

Barbican Conservatory

In 2025, the Barbican Centre shared proposals for its extensive upcoming renewal project. The project addresses the deteriorating structures – built between 1965 and 1982 – and the brutalist architecture's contemporary issues of accessibility and sustainability. It also looks at public spaces such as the foyers and lakeside terrace, and – excitingly – its eco-brutalist conservatory. London-based Harris Bugg Studio is working on the refresh.

A design tour of Olympia

After five years of construction, the Victorian landmark, West London's Olympia, reimagined as a vibrant cultural hub by Heatherwick Studio and SPPARC, is nearly complete. With this tour, you can take a design-led look inside.

The Cloud House

Many private homes are part of the 2026 London Open House programme, and style-wise, there's definitely something for everyone in its listings. If we had to pick one, it might have to be this fluffy-feeling pink home in north London, a new design by architect Peter Morris. The project consists of two semi-detached homes in leafy Hampstead Heath, and it certainly brings a smile to our faces.

The 2026 London Open House Festival runs 12-20 September 2026, book your visit at openhouse.org.uk