Royal Institute of British Architects

16:46 2012, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, City of London, London 2012, Open House day, RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects No Comments

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) building is the centre for professional body architects in the UK. The Royal Institute of British Architects headquarters were 1930s Grade II* listed building designed by architect George Grey Wornum, at 66 Portland Place. The building itself is beautiful Artdeco architecture with touches of Ancient Greek and Egyptian architecture. The Building has two Egyptian style columns from each side of the entrance with statues and engraved writing. The construction is mainly out of stone and glass. It has 3 conference halls as well as halls for exhibitions. During the Open House Day it was on show and had a free pass to see both exhibitions that were on: DESIGN STORIES and 5 BY FIVE. Design Stories exhibition is about the Olympics venues and the 5 By Five that is about the process of designing buildings.

Click Here to go back to the Open House day page.

If you are interested in attending architectural events we would recommend to got to our EVENTS page and check out what is on. 

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30 St Mary Axe

16:59 2012, Arup, City, City of London, Financial district, Foster and Partners., London, London 2012, Open House day, The Gherkin No Comments

The main highlight of the 2012 Open House was the 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) which was closed for a couple of years and was reopened this year. The building is 180m (591ft) tall and is in the centre of the financial district of London called the City. The construction started in 2001, was completed in December 2003 and was opened in the end of spring of the year of 2004. It was designed by the Foster and Partners Architects and was constructed by ARUP. The building has become an iconic symbol of London and is one of the city's most widely recognised examples of modern architecture. The Gherkin was the biggest attraction of the Open House day of 2012, to get in you had to wait for 7 hours or more in the queue. It is also the 8th tallest building in the UK and 48th tallest in Europe. 

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Thomas Heatherwick's Bleigiessen

12:38 Architecture, glass spheres, Heatherwick Studios, London 2012, Modernism, Open House day, Thomas Heatherwick No Comments

Thomas Heatherwick's Bleigiessen

The Bleigiessen is a 30m tall sculpture designed and made by the Heatherwick Studio in 2006. The sculpture itself is now situated in the Wellcome Trust building and is only open to public on the last Friday of every month and on Open House days. It is made out of 150,000 glass spheres and is suspended on 27,000 high tensile steel wires. It is one of the most spectacular works of the Heatherwick studios and it also won the Lovells Art and Work award. The tour to the Wellcome Trust also includes an explanation of how the new Wellcome Trust building was built by the Hopkins Architects. 

Public tours

The Wellcome Trust runs public tours of 'Bleigiessen' on the last Friday of every month at 14.00. These tours are bookable, and anyone who is interested should contact Elayne Hodgson: e.hodgson@wellcome.ac.uk. In addition, tours can be arranged for groups, which will run at mutually convenient times.


Click Here to learn more on Thomas Heatherwick and his Studio.

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Tower of Hercules

18:55 Ancient Roman, Empire, Hercules, Roman, Roman Architecture, Roman empire, Spain, Tower, Tower of Hercules No Comments

The Tower of Hercules is a tower which was built by the Romans in the centre of A Coruña, Galicia, in north-western Spain in the 2nd century. It is a lighthouse on a peninsula and is 57 metres (187 ft) tall. It is thought to be modelled after the Lighthouse of Alexandria. It is one of the main attractions in north-western part of Spain. It is a beautiful and classic Roman structure and is famous for its unusual supremacy over the Atlantic Ocean. The ancient Roman lighthouse is now seen as a monument and will always be remembered for its beauty. The Tower is now recognised as the oldest and longest standing lighthouse in the worlds history. It was designed by the Portuguese architect Gaius Sevius Lupus.

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The Roman Triumph Arch

21:10 Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, Arch, Roman Architecture, Roman Cities, Roman empire, Roman Triumph Arch No Comments

The Triumph Arch was built in many of Roman cities it was a passageway for citizens in the city and was also a monument to illustrate triumph. The arch had 4 entrances from each side and was usually the centre of the city or town. It was first used by the Hittites Empire at around 17th Century BC. The construction of the arch came from Monumental gateways that had been already in use for thousands of years by civilizations such as the Hittites, Assyrians,Babylonians and Myceneans. The Arch was a simple construction the saw two piers from either sides connected with an arch with decorations around that illustrated wars and power. Triumphal arches are one of the most influential and distinctive types of architecture associated with ancient Rome. The Triumph Arch is now popular and is used in modern architecture. Here are some examples of famous modern arches:

- Arc de Triomphe in Paris
- Siegestor in Munich
- Wellington Arch in London

Examples of arches built by the Romans:

- The Arch of Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna
- The Porte Noire in Besançon
- The Arch of Titus in Rome
- The Triumphal Arch of Orange

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Open House day - London

18:21 Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek Architecture, Architecture, Classical Architecture, London, London 2012, Modernism, Open House day, Roman Architecture No Comments

The Open House weekend is on every year for a weekend. This weekend is when nearly all the buildings  are open to the public. The Open House weekend is held in cities such as New York, Dublin, Galway, Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Click here to get more information on this beautiful sculpture designed and made by Thomas Heatherwick and his studio.

The well known RIBA the Royal Institute of British Architects building was also on show on the weekend and had a free pass to see both exhibitions that were on: DESIGN STORIES and 5 BY FIVE. Learn More...

The highlight of the 2012 Open House was the Gherkin which was closed for a couple of years and was reopened this year. Click here to find out more...

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Hampton Court

16:24 2012, Castle, Cycling, Hampton Park, London, London Olympics 2012, Olypmpics, Outside the Olympic Park No Comments

The Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the midlands of England. It was inhabited by the royal family since the 18th century and now is one of the biggest tourist attractions of England. It was used as a venue for cyclists and hosted several events such as the Time Trial and Road Cycling. It was the venue where Bradley Wiggins the Tour de France 2012 winner had won his gold medal. The Hampton Court was built in the early 16th century and was owned by Thomas Wolsey the Archbishop of York. It was built in the Tudor times for an unknown price. It hosted the The Road Cycling Time Trial event that commenced from the historic landmark of Hampton Court Palace. The Time Trial saw riders setting off with 90 second intervals between them, racing through areas in Surrey, including Kingston-up-Thames and Richmond - competing for the quickest time. Men and women will race separately, with men covering a distance of 44km and women 29km. Whether you wave off riders or welcome them on their return, Hampton Court Palace is a beautiful and fascinating historic feature to explore. 

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Water Polo Arena

16:14 2012, Arena, David Morley Architects, London 2012, London Olympics 2012, Olympic park, Olympic venue, Water Polo, Water Polo Arena No Comments

The Water Polo Arena was inside the Olympic park and was used as a warm up pool and water polo events such as men's and women's Water Polo team events. The key aim of the design of the "wedge shaped" building was to create unique and great venue from a 'kit of parts' was that it could be recycled in the future. The construction of the building was started in spring 2011 and was completed after only 13 months since the grounds were broken. It was designed by the David Morley Architects and is a really unique and beautifully designed building. Its signature feature is its slopping roof. Covered with shinny silver PVC with recycled inflatable cushions built in. It has been described as a 'temporary splash' near the Olympic Aquatic Centre that was designed by Zaha Hadid. In the future the venue will be recycled and will be transported to another place in the UK or its materials will be sent off to be reused in building processes such as constructing new buildings. 

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Olympic Hockey Venue

16:11 2012, Hockey, London, London 2012, London Olympics 2012, Olympic park, Olympic venue, Olympics, Riverbank Arena No Comments

The Olympic Hockey arena was inside the Olympic park and was the main Hockey arena where all the events were held. It used in the Summer 2012 Olympics and was used as the venue for 7-a-side football and 5-a-side football in the Paralympics summer events. It was a two pitch complex and had a capacity of 15,000 seats in the main arena and 5,000 in the smaller arena. It was £19,000,000 cost to build and was a unique structure. This stadium will be used as a training ground for Leyton Orient FC. It also may hold the 2015 hockey world cup. The stadium will be converted into a smaller capacity of 5,000 seats after the Olympics.

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Lord's Cricket Club

16:07 2012, Cricket Club, London, London 2012, London Olympics 2012, Lord's Cricket Club, Olympics, Outside the Olympic Park, Paralympics No Comments

Lord's Cricket Club is one of the venues that were not Olympic Park bound and is situated in St John's Wood, London. It hosted the archery events and was used also in the Paralympics for archery as well. It is a big venue and is one of the biggest Cricket Grounds in the world. It was built in 1884 and was redeveloped and made more modern in 1999 for the Cricket world cup. It has a media centre that was designed by Jan Kaplický  and has won the famous RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architecture) award. It has the capacity of 28,000 and it's cost to build was 5 million pounds. It is now a home to Marylebone Cricket Club and the English International squad. It still serves as their home ground since 1814. 

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