Over 700 new and old buildings across the capital are opening their doors to the public for free during the weekend of 17 and 18 September.

Open House London celebrates the buildings, places and neighbourhoods that have contributed to the creation of a vibrant, distinctive city.

This year, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has teamed up with Notting Hill Housing Trust and Trees for Cities to showcase two public housing schemes built 160 years apart; Prince Consort Lodge in Kennington and fabrik on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton. The twinned exhibition will illustrate similarities and differences in the approaches to building social housing over time.

Eleanor Purser from HCA London said: "These buildings share a concern with space standards and design quality and the use of technology to reduce costs and speed up delivery. They show that applying the best the construction industry of the time can offer to public housing isn’t new. What's abundantly clear from both of the schemes is that the success of public housing depends to a large extent upon careful consideration of residents’ needs. I urge anyone with an interest in buildings or public housing, past and present, to take this unique opportunity and look around these fascinating developments."

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John Hughes, Notting Hill's Group Director of Development, said: "Residents' desires and expectations are at the very heart of fabrik. We wanted to provide excellent quality homes that were spacious, comfortable and located in a desirable neighbourhood. We achieved this at fabrik using best practice design principles and a contractor whose model could change the way we build affordable homes."

Open House London is an annual event that enables people to explore inspirational buildings and learn about how good design makes cities more liveable. Other schemes on this year's programme with which the HCA has been involved include Barking Riverside, Ravensbourne, Adelaide Wharf, Falcon Works, Woolwich Arsenal, Stonebridge and Spring Gardens.

(CD/GK)