The Open House Festival, London's annual celebration of architecture, neighborhoods, and communities, will run from September 13-21, 2025, opening more than 700 buildings to the public. This year's festival features a special collection of AJ Architecture Award winners from the past five years, offering rare access to normally restricted architectural gems throughout the city.
Among the featured projects is Archio's innovative suburban villa design for the historic Becontree Estate in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Completed in 2022, this development is part of an ongoing housing expansion plan within what remains the world's largest public housing scheme, encompassing 26,000 homes. The project, which won both the Housing Project category and Editor's Choice award in 2022, represents a new type of villa architecture that builds upon the estate's original 1920s pioneering design.
The AJ Collection includes seven schemes offering drop-in visits and guided tours during the festival. [Y/N] Studio's Bradbury Works stands out as a vibrant community-focused public space in east London, providing affordable workspace for Hackney Co-operative Developments. The refurbishment project added two stories to a former Victorian building and wrapped it in a striking polycarbonate skin that blurs the lines between industrial and domestic architecture.
Another highlight is Red Clover Gardens, now known as Lion Green Road, designed by Mary Duggan Architects and RUFFARCHITECTS for the now-defunct Brick By Brick development company in Croydon. This impressive development features 157 homes arranged across five strikingly faceted blocks within a landscaped park-like setting. Each pavilion block's composition responds to the site's sloping topography and is strategically oriented to optimize views for residents.
Additional featured projects include Boston Manor House by Purcell in Brentford, a meticulously restored Jacobean house built in 1623 that has been transformed into a community and creative business hub. The building, which won the Heritage Project category award, now operates as a visitor destination featuring beautifully restored historic interiors and ornate plasterwork, along with community exhibition galleries and a modern café.
HawkinsBrown's Central Foundation Boys School in Old Street represents excellence in educational architecture, having won the School Project category. The firm helped this 150-year-old institution overcome significant financial and logistical challenges to provide 13,000 square meters of state-of-the-art upgrades, including new science laboratories and an innovative subterranean sports hall.
The collection also includes Nelson Wright Architects' Leybourne Road project in Leytonstone, winner of the Project under £500,000 category in 2022. This pair of new-build semi-detached townhouses sits on a former garage site and represents an entrepreneurial approach to housing development, with the practice both designing and developing the project.
Completing the selection is The Parcels Building by Grafton Architects in Marylebone, a 2023 Refurb Project category winner. This mixed-use building on Oxford Street features a renovated 1950s structure with a new Portland Whitbed limestone façade and includes a distinctive double-height multifunctional event space with amphitheater-style seating.
The AJ Architecture Awards, which have been running since 2017, celebrate design excellence in UK architecture. This year's awards ceremony will take place on November 27, 2025, at the Royal Lancaster London. The shortlists for the 2025 awards will be announced during the week of August 18-22, building anticipation for another year of architectural recognition and public engagement through the Open House Festival.
