London Festival of Architecture Events

The River Thames is our city’s 215-mile-long boundary that separates North London from South London. Over time, historical events have helped to shape the two halves of our capital and today, the result of many of those significant events are apparent in the materials of the buildings and landmarks.

In 1666, the Great Fire of London devastated 436 acres of North London including 13,200 homes, 87 churches and the historic St Paul’s Cathedral. Buildings that were once made of wood and destroyed, were rebuilt using brick and stone to prevent such a disaster happening again and much of this historic brick and stonework can still be seen today. Join us on a walking tour starting from The Monument in the city, across London Bridge and finishing up in More London. Discover the use of the London stock brick and Portland stone masonry, and the contrast in these materials above and below the iconic river.

• Wednesday 5 June - 09.00 - 10.30
• Thursday 13 June - 17.00 - 18.30
• Thursday 20 June - 17.00 - 18.30
• Tuesday 25 June - 12.00 - 13.30

For more information or to book a place on this event, click here.

Our capital city plays host to over 8 million individuals across an area of over 1,500 km2. The growing demand for additional housing and commercial developments, coupled with the restriction of ground-level space, has meant that the need to construct more high-rise buildings has increased dramatically. This increased demand has meant that it is now necessary to call upon modern methods of construction and facade materials. The Greater London Authority stated that 50,000 new homes a year are needed in London to satisfy the growing population; a challenge that can be facilitated by utilising modern-day facade systems.

From brick to stone or metal to terracotta, facade systems allow high-rise buildings to achieve any desired aesthetic, whilst ensuring the durability and reliability of traditional building materials like facing brick or stone masonry. Join us on a walking tour around London Bridge and the surrounding area and discover the use of modern-day facade systems that form our building’s boundaries and allow us to continue constructing our city’s buildings.

• Tuesday 4 June - 09.00 - 10.30
• Tuesday 18 June - 17.00 - 18.30
• Friday 21 June - 12.00 - 13.30
• Wednesday 26 June - 17.00 - 18.30

For more information or to book a place on this event, click here.

Bricks form the boundaries of our buildings, our outdoor space and have been the most popular facade material choice for thousands of years.

Join us for a hands-on brick making workshop, alongside industry leading manufacturer Wienerberger, at our London Bridge showroom. This workshop will give you the opportunity the understand the process behind how a brick is manufactured and the different methods of manufacture and allow you to create your own bespoke brick that you can engrave with your name.

We will send off your brick to be dried and then fired in a traditional brick kiln, before being returned to us for you to collect and keep.

• Monday 10 June - 10.00 - 12.00

For more information or to book a place on this event, click here.

'House and Garden’ is a well-recognised delineation of space, but the traditional boundary is being reinvented and reworked by architects and designers worldwide. New lifestyle choices, economic imperatives, materials and fundamentally, new thinking, are dramatically affecting how our interior and exterior spaces interact together.

Increasing pressures of urban living are encouraging both commercial and domestic developments to make greater use of their outdoor spaces for everything from open-air meeting rooms and wellness areas, to the more customary activities of relaxing and entertaining. At ground level, there is growing demand to bring the outside in (and visa-versa), while in high-rise developments it is now standard practice to include roof terraces and balconies wherever possible.

However, this comes with significant aesthetic and technical challenges – particularly around the boundary beneath our feet. Finding appropriate flooring materials has historically been a battle between price, practicality, performance and ecological impact; it can often be hard to keep up with the latest innovations.

Join us as we discuss 'what are the key considerations when extending our living boundaries' and explore the materials that are enabling the breakdown of these boundaries between indoor and outdoor living. Our panel will include architects from the award-winning architectural practice Stride Treglown.

Tea and coffee will be available. Architects may find this session useful as part of their CPD.

• Thursday 6 June - 09.00 - 10.00
  
• Wednesday 19 June - 09.00 - 10.00

For more information or to book a place on this event, click here.