The event has become so popular that some buildings have started limiting numbers with a ticketing system.
For the second year in a row, a building I use regularly, and one I have photographed inside, is involved in Open House London. Westminster Meeting House is a quiet oasis in the centre of London where visitors can pause from the busy city outside.
While Westminster Meeting House is open to the public during the week when Meetings are held, it is almost hidden along St Martin’s Lane, amongst the café’s, a gym, bookshops and other retailers - not far from Trafalgar Square. A number of people who visited the Meeting House last year commented on how they hadn’t realised the building was there, or hadn’t had a chance to visit until Open House London.
Quaker Meetings are also part of the British architectural history. As a non-conformist religious movement in the UK, with its roots dating back about 350 years, Quaker architecture embodies it's simplicity and equality ethos.
Open House London is a way to showcase the Meeting House and the peaceful space it offers within the centre of a bustling cosmopolitan city. It is remarkably quiet and peaceful considering its location.
The main meeting room (shown above) is where the weekly Meetings take place, and the library (shown below) houses the books that can be borrowed as well as a meeting space to have coffee / tea after Meetings.
For more information:
Open House London - www.londonopenhouse.org
Westminster Quakers - www.westminsterquakers.org.uk
Quakers in the UK - www.quaker.org.uk