Announcing Our Fourth Festival Hub: Heart of London

The time has come to introduce the fourth and final Festival Hub for the London Festival of Architecture 2019 Heart of London Business Alliance. Representing St James’s, Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, Heart of London are our only hub to be joining us for the first time this June, and we are thrilled to have them on board as we look forward to seeing even more exciting events and activities take place in this iconic area for LFA2019.

Located in the heart of London’s West End, the area offers a unique and unrivalled mix of culture, entertainment, food and shopping and is home to many vibrant neighbourhoods. With a global mix of over 2,500 restaurants & bars, 2,000 shops, 40 renowned theatres, 30 museums and galleries and 7 tranquil green spaces, London’s West End is one of London’s most visited destinations attracting more than 200 million visitors a year from across the world.

‘From the bright lights and spectacle of Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, to the historic buildings that line St James’s and Haymarket, Heart of London is full of incredible spaces to explore. We are delighted to be an official hub of the London Festival of Architecture 2019 and can’t wait to showcase and celebrate our hotels, restaurants, shops and museums through the lens of architecture. Watch this space…’

Ros Morgan, Chief Executive Heart of London Business Alliance.

Festival highlights 2018

This might be Heart of London’s first year as an LFA Festival Hub, but we’ve already seen some fantastic events take place around this area in past years! As we’re excited to see the programme around St James’s, Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square come together for this year’s Festival, make sure to keep scrolling to see some of our highlights, which took place in and around the area during last year’s Festival:

The Big Architecture Family Day – Family Studio: Master Casters

As part of the Royal Academy of Arts’ exciting programme of tours and workshops last June, children and families were invited to take on the role of an architect and create a plaster cast of an iconic building from their own miniature architectural model, to find out more about how architects work with new and existing buildings.

St James’s – Architecture & Literature

This guided walk, organised by Footprints of London, offered a fascinating insight into St James’s, one of London’s first planned developments, dating from the 1660’s.

Combining architectural history with stories of some of the area’s literary residents and visitors, the walk started in the courtyard of Burlington House, where Samuel Pepys set his wig alight, passed the site of Oscar Wilde’s greatest triumph and disaster and visited where Charles II’s most avaricious mistress had her mansion.

LFA2019 – Watch out for…

Our LFA Symposium is returning for LFA2019, organised in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts and hosted at their beautiful building in the heart of Piccadilly, St James’s!

The LFA Symposium is a focal point of the LFA programme, as it brings together participants from all backgrounds with prominent architects, academics and commentators, to offer a rich exploration of the Festival’s 2019 theme. It also provides a brilliant platform for participants to share and develop their thinking on the role and application of boundaries in architecture, both tangible and intangible.

Having closed our call for participants in January, we’re very excited to begin developing our Symposium programme over the next few weeks and announcing our line up of speakers as we approach the Festival – keep an eye on our website for the latest updates and follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook to make sure you’re the first to know!

We’re thrilled to grow and develop our partnership with Heart of London Business Alliance in the run up to this year’s Festival, as the area becomes home to an exciting branch of our programme for LFA2019!

About Heart of London Business Alliance:

Heart of London Business Alliance serves as a voice for 500 businesses and 100 property owners in the Piccadilly & St James’s and Leicester Square & Piccadilly Circus areas to ensure that they continue to form an unmissable part of London’s West End offer, as a place for people to visit, live, trade and work. For more information click here.