Open House (Sun) - the RSA, British Academy & Royal Society buildings!

Once a year in September, 800 private buildings in London open their doors for the weekend and let the public in to look around and admire their architecture. We are going to take full advantage of this visiting buildings on the Saturday and the Sunday.

On the Sunday we are visiting 3 buildings.

RSA building (Royal Society of the encouragement of Arts) - built in 1774
The RSA is this year celebrating the 250th anniversary of moving into the building. The building was designed as part of the Adam brothers' Adelphi complex and the architect was Robert Adam. The House boasts several original Adams features, including the cornice in the Great Room, iconic Adam stairwells, 14 Adam fireplaces and extensive vaults. The Great Room showcases James Barry’s series of paintings started in 1777 and completed in 1801, alongside portraits painted by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds.

Finish at 1:40pm and walk to the next building.

Arrive at the British Academy building - 2:00pm.

The British Academy building - built in 1827
One of London's finest examples of Georgian architecture, Carlton House Terrace is a Grade 1 listed structure originally designed by John Nash and built between 1827 and 1833. Today the townhouse at no 10-11 is home to the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. The creation of a British Academy was first proposed in 1899 so that Britain could be represented at the new International Association of Academies.

Finish at 3:30pm and walk to the next building.

Arrive at the Royal Society building - 3:45pm.

The Royal Society building - built in 1831
A spectacular Grade I listed building designed by famed architect John Nash. Built in 1831, these former townhouses have undergone refurbishments throughout their history. The building is now home to the UK's national science academy. The first meeting of the Royal Society in 1660. Since then it has resided in numerous properties and moved here in 1967,

Finish at 5:00pm and head to the pub.

Cost
Entry to all buildings is free!

We will spend about 1h 30mins in each building. All the buildings are within walking distance of each other.

Afterwards
After, we will head to the 'Silver Cross pub', 33 Whitehall for a chat over a drink (not far from Charing Cross or Embankment Tube Stations).

Look out for the red & blue 'London Cultureseekers' group sign.

Hope to see you there!

Robert
07905 901 834 (prefer text)

On the day, if you can’t make the trip, just change your RSVP to No or text me to say you can’t make it.
Please don’t post any messages in the comments that you can’t make it, as this generates spam for everyone else.

Please make sure you are aware of the group rules here before RSVPing - https://www.meetup.com/london_cultureseekers/messages/boards/thread/53768478