Open House Festival

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Celebrating the Open House homes

This year we have worked to rebuild the domestic architecture strand of the Open House Festival. This collection is bursting with a range of homes that are being generously opened for people to explore and learn from. Open homes are a particularly special sort of opening and we are incredibly grateful to those who donate their time and space to make this happen.

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10 Tollgate Drive

housing

Part of Austin Vernon & Parters designed estate completed 1966, 10 Tollgate Drive is range style house, refurbished in 2008 by Powell Tuck Associates, owners are Angus and Sarah Shepherd, Angus is Director at Powell Tuck Associates.

, 1966

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137A Evering Road

residence

The building is a set of four flats. Ours is Flat A in the basement. It has a unique interior and a long narrow garden.

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1 Halliwick Road

residence

A low energy refurbishment of an Edwardian house, with rear extension and loft conversion. Wood fibre insulation, MVHR, airtightness layer, triple glazing, timber structure and low embodied energy materials.

Architecture for London, 2020

This is a beautiful house in Eric Lyons' last SPAN development from 1982

Eric Lyons and Span Developments, 1982

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A House for Artists

event, community/cultural, residence

A House for Artists is an ambitious project, designed to provide affordable, sustainable housing for artists, who will offer long-term civic and cultural engagement for communities in Barking Town Centre. Drop in to the creative workshop. This project is supported by the Mayor of London.

Apparata, 2020

Drop in / Guided tour

Alton Estate

housing, mixed use, walk/tour, online

Alton Estate is renowned for its mix of high-rise Le Corbusian architecture in Alton West & its low-rise Scandinavian approach to modernism in Alton East. Designed by the London County Council architects they completed in 1959.

Rosemary Stjernstedt, Oliver Cox, LCC, 1950

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Balin House Projects

civic

BalinHouseProjects is an artist-run space and home. It has published books about its activities over sixteen years. The refurbishment was a collaboration with architect Torange Khonsari of public works and carpenter Matthias Bruene.

Torange Khonsari, 1938

Drop in / Guided tour

Central Hill Estate

housing, walk/tour, community/cultural

Tree-lined housing estate on the ridge of Central Hill & Crystal Palace, incorporating open spaces, views over London, gardens and sense of community. Rosemary Stjernstedt Ted Hollamby Adrian Sansom, Lambeth Borough Architects 1963.

Roger Westman, Brian Roberts, Frank de Marco, Adrian Sansom, Ted Hollamby, Rosemary Stjernstedt, 1963

Drop in / Guided tour

Dawson's Heights

walk/tour, housing

Celebrating it's 50th year this year Dawson's Heights is split between 2 blocks consisting of 296 flats, all with private balconies. A fantastic example of beautifully designed social housing with uninterrupted views of the London skyline.

Kate Macintosh for Southwark Council Architects Dept, 1972

This house is a deep low carbon retrofit to classic late twentieth century terrace house typology by the owner architect. Alongside energy demand reduction to EnerPHit criteria and comfort improvement, the house interior has been remodelled

Prewett Bizley Architects, 2021

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DEEP SPACE

residence, art studio

New build live/ work unit, unique architecture in a quiet mews in Brockley.

Charles Coull, 2017

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Green House

housing

A new exposed CLT-frame house, built on a site once occupied by market garden greenhouses, featuring a planted façade with sliding external screens and a riad-style central atrium, assisting in natural daylighting, ventilation and cooling.

Hayhurst and Co., 2021

A small community of people living aboard an array of traditional and contemporary craft. Open to viewers are two traditional narrowboats and one widebeam. Visit to have your boat toilet related questions answered for once and for all.

various

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Hassett

residence

Architects own house in Hackney. A very recently completed re-work of a 70's split-level house in Hackney. The house is owned by architect and partner of Archmongers Architects, Johan Hybschmann and his wife Anita Freeman.

Archmongers, 1978

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Home of Jermaine Gallacher

residence

Jermaine Gallacher is an interior designer, product designer and design dealer renowned for his offbeat and distinctive style. His home within a nineteenth century Peabody block, houses his extensive personal collection.

John Douglas, 1886

Grade I listed 1934 residential block of flats in Hampstead, designed by the Canadian modernist architect Wells Coates for clients Jack and Molly Pritchard. English Heritage blue plaque for Bauhaus masters Gropius, Breuer and Moholy-Nagy.

Wells Coates, 1934

Drop in / Guided tour

Kenworthy Road

housing

This a new self-build house by two architect friends, Anthony Engi Meacock and Alexander Hills, on a narrow infill site within a late Victorian terrace.

Alexander Hills Architects and Anthony Engi Meacock, 2021

Drop in / Guided tour

Loop House, Teddington

residence

Bridgeman Road project is a refurbishment project of a three-storey house with an extension of the roof with a dormer. The outcome is a joyful interior with bold use of colours and materials.

Unagru Architecture Urbanism, 2022

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Pullman Court

housing

Grade II* listed buildings, modern movement style with balcony walkways and period internal features.

Frederick Gibberd, 1936

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Spruce House

residence

Ao-ft co-founders', Liz Tatarintseva and Zach Fluker, Spruce House and Studio is the pair’s joint home in east London’s Walthamstow. Not only has it been a personal labour of love, it’s also the first flagship project of the practice owners' newly minted architecture practice.

Ao-ft, 2021

Open House of 13 Nubia Way and oral history exhibition of Europe's largest black-led community self-build for rent iintiative including archive material and new video. https://sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemory/tomorrow-is-built-today/

Architype, 1997

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Vanbrugh Park Estate

housing

Vanbrugh Park Estate was designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. The estate shares many stylistic similarities with their wider work such as the semi-circular curved motifs, purposeful use of light, and approach to community living.

Chamberlin Powell and Bon, 1963

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Walmer Yard

housing, online

Forming a discreet and private set of four interlocking houses set around an open courtyard, Walmer Yard is Peter Salter's only UK project. The houses now form the home of the Baylight Foundation.

Fenella Collingridge, Peter Salter, 2018

A close of 13 self-built houses. Each is unique, built using method developed by Walter Segal, who led the project in the 1980s. Houses have been extended and renovated. Sustainable features including solar electric, water & space heating.

Walter Segal, 1987