please empty your brain below
That looks stunning - the staircase with the safety railing is just as I remember it from being a customer at the hospital in the late 1950s and visitng quite a few relatives when they were patients.

Rob Gullen | 19.09.23 - 7:39 a.m. | #

You were lucky with your timing; I arrived just before 12 to find the small tour was full, and the next not until 1, so I had to miss out on all this. (Was rather annoying how many buildings this year insisted on a tour to see anything rather than letting you wander, even just in part.)

Richard Smith | 19.09.23 - 7:54 a.m. | #

Not sure I have ever seen you so enthusiastic about a building!

Adam Cummings | 19.09.23 - 8:02 a.m. | #

Good to see what looks like an excellent reworking of an old building. This should happen as often as possible.

Malcolm of Kent | 19.09.23 - 8:03 a.m. | #

Ooh I went for a job interview with the trade union for the council's staff inside in about July this year-didn't get it--the offices inside are less exciting, certainly more everyday from memory but a lovely building nevertheless.

Jonathan | 19.09.23 - 8:29 a.m. | #

Thank you so much for all these detailed and well illustrated reports. They are a great treat for those of us who cannot easily visit in person.

RosemaryT | 19.09.23 - 8:40 a.m. | #

No need to apologise. I haven't been to Open House for around 20 years, and given some of the frustrations about bookings and timings expressed here, I'm grateful for the chance to appreciate these viewings secondhand.

Man of Kent | 19.09.23 - 9:09 a.m. | #

Of my 30 visits this year...
• pre-booked tours: 0
• had to go on a tour: 5
• chose to go on a tour: 5

So it's not that impenetrable if you plan carefully, and sometimes a tour is by far the best way to see the building.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 19.09.23 - 9:18 a.m. | #

Don’t be to hard on yourself for not yet completing your self appointed task of writing up all your visits.

Even the work in progress is impressive and much appreciated.

And you didn't have to admit to your loyal readers of all the work yet to be completed, it could also have been a pleasant surprise at a later date.

Look after yourself.

MilesT | 19.09.23 - 10:56 a.m. | #

I remember an ex-doctor I knew in the 1980s remembering his days working in the then-"London" Hospital. It was little-known outside the capital in those days. I wonder what the subsquent fate was of all those "hubs" though.

cau1khead | 19.09.23 - 11:37 a.m. | #

This was one I wish I'd done this year but I didn't get to as many places as I'd hoped. A lot of the places I went this year had tours, from the very organised to the more ad hoc, but they were all good. Again we seemed to end up at a couple of the same buildings.

The Open House website managed to be a source of frustration yet again, especially on the day, so I must remember to not rely it to know where I'm going.

Anders | 19.09.23 - 1:49 p.m. | #

How does the shower for "male ablutions" work as i have not heard of that before?

Tones | 19.09.23 - 2:34 p.m. | #

Really good to see such a well-integrated blend of re-purposed space and new build that people might actually like working in. Looks as though it’s a much better synthesis than, say, the Granary/UAL building in King’s Cross, where the new areas are just shoehorned in and the central “street” just seemed like a void when I visited (mind you, that wasn’t long after it opened, so maybe the art students have knocked it about a bit/into shape since then).

Labourer | 19.09.23 - 5:33 p.m. | #

Having walked through the Granary/UAL building in the last 12 hours, rather than 12 years ago, I'd recommend a revisit before passing judgement.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 19.09.23 - 5:57 p.m. | #

Those hospital conversions are really interesting. If you are in Cambridge, across the road from the Fitzwilliam, try to wander in the Judge business school of the U of C, you will not be disappointed.

Balar Gazont | 19.09.23 - 10:01 p.m. | #

I regret missing out on this one for Open House! Next year! Great write up and pictures :)

Joseph Clift | 20.09.23 - 7:40 a.m. | #

We went on the same day as you I think. I'd already wandered round the public parts, but it was great to go on the tour. Agree it's weird about the library, I wonder what they were thinking. We can see the top of the operating theatre (the breakout room one) from our living room so it was wonderful to see the inside of it. My wife's in a wheelchair so we found the lack of signage to the ramp down to the library was non-existent, the chair lift to the council floor non-operational and were really puzzled at the lack of disabled access to the prayer room.

I'm disappointed you didn't write about the Granary CSM building as that's where I've worked since we moved from Holborn. Ah well, hope you enjoyed your visit.

Colin | Homepage | 24.09.23 - 10:52 a.m. | #











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