Plenty of scientific doors will open during the annual architectural education weekend.
Matt Brown
Image via Google Maps. An interactive version is available.
In September each year, hundreds of London’s buildings open to the public for just a few days. Open House weekend is an unmissable opportunity to poke around in all kinds of places that are usually off-limits. Of the 600 participating venues this year, around 25 have scientific or medical links.
Must-sees
The Gibbs Building, headquarters of the Wellcome Trust, opened at 215 Euston Road three years ago. The glass-clad structure has become a local landmark, partly thanks to the window displays showing protein structures in neon lighting. Inside hangs Thomas Heatherwick’s Bleigiessen sculpture, which – at nine storeys tall – must be one of London’s largest works of art.
Queen Mary College Institute of Cell and Molecular Science in Whitechapel is another impressive building of recent construction. The glass box contains laboratory space with suspended pods providing meeting areas.
A more historical highlight is the 18th Century Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, whose stairwell includes murals by Hogarth.
The Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret in St Thomas St, Southwark is one of those curious little museums that London does so well and so prolifically. A couple of small rooms at the top of a church tower contain a well-preserved operating table and amphitheatre from pre-anaesthetic days.
Learned societies
One of the treats of Open House weekend is the rare opportunity to visit the headquarters of City guilds and livery companies. These buildings are historical nexuses, lined with ancient charters and artefacts. Unfortunately, queues are common and pre-booking is often necessary.
The inconveniences of visiting a livery company can be sidestepped by heading to their scientific equivalent – the learned society. To bag five in quick succession, head to Burlington House, Piccadilly. The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Linnean Society have occupied the complex since early Victorian times and have much to show off. A short walk to Carlton House Terrace will bring you to the Royal College of Pathologists, which offers an excellent view of The Mall. Also nearby is the College of Optometrists on Craven Street and then the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
Regent’s Park harbours a further pair of societies. The Royal College of Physicians inhabits an acclaimed 1960s building that houses an important library and archive. To the west of the park, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists will conduct tours of their HQ.
Further afield, the Highgate Library and Scientific Institution and the South London Botanical Institute will both open their doors. Finally, the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington Gore contains the ongoing ‘Changing climates, changing lives’ exhibition, wrapped in a red-brick Richard Norman Shaw building.
Marvels of engineering
The weekend also allows access to some of the city’s most impressive examples of Victorian ingenuity. The Crossness Pumping Station is a good starting point. Joseph Bazalgette’s cathedral to sewerage, with its twin at Abbey Mills, is incongruously ornamental, as though the great engineer wanted to prove his ability to polish a turd. A more recent pump house (1929) will open its doors at Lavender Pond, Rotherhithe.
Close by, the Brunel Museum will operate tours through the Thames tunnel excavated by Marc Brunel. Above the river, the Thames Barrier information centre will offer free entry. And the SELCHP Energy Recovery Centre in Bermondsey will demonstrate how energy can be produced from waste.
Guided tours
The Open House project isn’t entirely about houses, or even buildings. Throughout the year, they arrange guided tours of historically interesting areas. This weekend, four such walks have scientific themes.
Two of these are centred on Paddington Basin. A Brunel walk will take participants on a journey from the great engineer’s statue in Paddington Station, around some of the new developments in the area. Alternatively, the Fleming walk will take in the buildings of St Mary’s Hospital, where penicillin was discovered.
For those not already familiar with the key sights, a tour of UCL’s main campus is highly recommended. To the south-east of London, circular tours will be available of Downe – home for many years to Charles Darwin.
Please check the Open House website for opening times. Brochures are available from participating libraries or can be purchased over the weekend.