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Open House Festival is an annual celebration of London's architecture and
neighbourhoods, and the people and communities behind them. Every year,
buildings and other sites across all 33 London boroughs open to the public, so that
Londoners can explore and learn about them for free.
Open House Festival is run by Open City, a charity dedicated to making architecture
and neighbourhoods more open, accessible and equitable. Our mission is to
empower communities to learn about, experience and have a role in shaping places
where they live. We collaborate with people from diverse communities to widen
access to spaces, neighbourhoods, knowledge and careers they are often excluded
from. We do this by creating educational and cultural programmes discussing,
celebrating and opening up historic and contemporary buildings and landscapes.
Why should I volunteer at Open House Festival?
Open House Festival Volunteers help to open up buildings for the public. In a lot of
cases, the buildings would not be able to open at all without volunteer support. It’s a
rewarding experience with opportunities to learn about London’s built environment.
There are two different roles for volunteers: stewards and guides.
As a steward you will be:
● Helping to marshal visitors by organising queues
● Checking off names of visitors who have booked

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● Signposting visitors around the building
● Answering any questions visitors might have around opening times,
accessibility, toilets etc.
● Other practical support for festival contributors on the day
As a guide you will be:
● Giving informal tours of your chosen building, introducing visitors to the
architecture, function and history of the building
● Answering visitors’ questions about the building
Guides will need to do some research beforehand, so that you can speak about the
building with knowledge and confidence.