institution/profession, gallery, library, museum
George Grey Wornum, 1934
66 Portland Place, W1B 1AD
Fine example of Grade II* listed 1930s architecture with many original features and fittings and home to the world-class British Architectural Library collections.
Great Portland Street, Oxford Circus, Regent's Park
88, C2, 453
Nearby tube stations: Oxford Circus Regents Park Great Portland Street
Contact learning@riba.org for any queries on accessibility of the building.
The present headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects, which was opened on 8 November 1934 by King George V and Queen Mary, was designed by G Grey Wornum CBE, FRIBA (1888-1957), who won the commission in an open architectural competition that attracted 284 entries. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Howard de Walden on 28 June 1933.
In 1970, on the recommendation of the Historic Buildings Council, the RIBA building was listed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government as a Grade II building of architectural and historic importance, one of the very first examples of 'modern architecture' to be so recognised.
The six-storey building is faced in Portland Stone. The sculpted figures on the Portland Place front depict the spirit of man and woman as the creative forces of architecture. Along the Weymouth Street elevation, above the third-storey window line, are five relief figures, depicting a painter, a sculptor, an architect (Sir Christopher Wren), an engineer and a working man. The interior of the building is finely detailed in a variety of materials.
In celebration of Open House 2023 join us at the Royal Institute of British Architects headquarters for free guided tours and chance to view a film on the building in-situ.
Guided tour
historical house, institution/profession, museum
Grade II listed building with neoclassical portico. Highly decorated meeting rooms throughout the building with ceiling and wall mouldings, and artwork featuring Venus the Goddess of Love and the Greek Muses.
Robert and James Adam, 1776
Drop in
religious, recreational, historical house, community/cultural, gallery, concert/performance space, mixed use
Loughborough Pearson's red brick building is unimposing from the outside, but inside is a riot of Gothic Revival design. Golden mosaics reveal the character of the Grade II* listed chapel, built as part of the Middlesex Hospital.
J. L. Pearson, 1891
Drop in / Guided tour
institution/profession, education, gallery, health, library, museum, online
Striking, provocative and one of London’s few Grade I listed post-war buildings. Drop in or take a tour of this award-winning building, from its modernist lines to dramatic interiors. See history.rcplondon.ac.uk/event/open-house-festival.
Sir Denys Lasdun, 1964
