Open House London 2020

This year’s Open House London will be a mixture of online and socially distanced bookable tours, taking place on the 19th and 20th September. The festival, now in its 28th year, promotes a better understanding of architecture for everyone. Each year, some of the London’s most well known and not so well known buildings open their doors for free, making them and architecture accessible for all. 

Dinosaur Island: Site of the new Swing Bridge

This year’s festival will play host to an online tour of the Grade II listed Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. Created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins in 1852, these dinosaurs were the first ever attempt to model full-scale replicas of extinct animals. The result is a cornucopia of monolith life-sized models of these extinct animals, which still impresses visitors today as much as it did in the 19th century. The dinosaurs are also visible for those visiting the park in person. You can book the online tour here. 

Dinosaur Island, home of the dinosaurs, is the site of the new Swing Bridge which will be installed later in the year. The 8mm lightweight perforate bridge will allow secure maintenance access to the dinosaurs, ensuring they are preserved for generations to come.  

Also, at Crystal Palace Park, you will find the Crystal Bowl, an iconic music venue built in 1961 by Ian Ritchie Architects - view the video tour here.

Open House London will be taking place on the 19th and 20th September, please check the website for further information.