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12 September 2019

King's opens its doors for Open House London

On the 21 and 22 September King's opens its doors for Open House London, the world’s largest architecture festival.

Bush House
Bush House on Kingsway

Once again King’s College London opens its doors for Open House London, the city-wide architectural and design festival. In previous years King’s has welcomed thousands of members of the public during this well-loved festival that allows access to an array of hidden gems of architectural and historical interest across the university’s campuses.

King’s College London was founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829 as a university college in the tradition of the Church of England. With this impressive history and buildings to match, there are multiple points of interest across three central London campuses, including the King’s College Chapel, The Weston Room at Maughan Library and the ‘Roman’ Bath on Strand Lane on the Strand Campus, and the Museum of Life Sciences on Guy’s Campus near London Bridge. King’s has recently undertaken an ambitious programme of development, and the new Science Gallery London at Guy’s and Bush House at the Strand are two examples of historic buildings sympathetically renovated into world class academic facilities.

As well as noteworthy interiors, visitors have the opportunity to explore a number of exhibitions demonstrating the wide range of King’s research. Viewing the Invisible in the Arcade at Bush House brings together scientists and artists to explore the similarities in their working methods, and Science Gallery London’s new season explores ON EDGE: Living in an Age of Anxiety. The view of London and the Thames from the 8th Floor terrace at Bush House is a highlight for anyone wishing to gain a fantastic new perspective of London.

Professor Michael Trapp from King’s Classics Department and Subhashini Robert William (who is working on a PhD on archaeology and literature in the nineteenth century) will be delivering tours of the ‘hidden traces’ of the original Tudor Somerset House. King’s Strand Campus and Somerset House together lie over the site of the old palace, as begun by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset in the 1540s, and completed under James I in 1614. 

Professor Trapp says, ‘The remains of the old palace in and under the two modern institutions can’t usually be seen all together; Open House is a marvellous opportunity to trace them right across the site, and conjure up some of the ghosts of the past.’

‘I am really thrilled to be delivering the Hidden Traces Tour,’ said Subhashini Robert William.’My PhD work explores the intersections between archaeology and literature in the nineteenth century. The tour gives me to opportunity to examine in practical ways this idea of reimagining the past from a contemporary context.’

Open House London takes place on the 21 & 22 September 2019. For full details of opening times and further information on the venues across King's please visit the Open House London webpage, and to book on the Hidden Traces Tour please visit the Somerset House webpage.

Delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals

King's College London has a long and proud history of serving the needs and aspirations of society. We are committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a university, and we use them as a framework for reporting on our social impact. The SDGs are a set of 17 goals approved by the 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) which aim to transform the world by 2030. This initiative supports SDG 11.