NLA, London’s Built Environment Community, is opening its new home in the West Wing of the Guildhall in the City of London in spring 2023. The London Centre will include a public gallery featuring scale models of London, an event space and the Changing Face of London exhibition.

 

The project is in partnership with the City of London Corporation in support of its ‘Destination City’ strategy to attract more people into the Square Mile. The London Centre will be open to the public and host model talks, walking tours, think tanks, breakfast talks, evening receptions and NLA’s learning programme for young people. The space will invite London’s stakeholders and senior decision makers to bring international investors and Civic leaders from all over the world, providing a new shop front for London’s development and an accessible space for everyone with an interest in the built environment.

 

NLA members and organisations across the capital will be able to benefit from NLA’s varied programme of events taking place in the Centre with exciting opportunities for private hire within the space. The London Centre will be NLA’s new home where its members, community groups and the public can explore, learn, and celebrate London’s built environment. It will also be the base for NLA’s flagship programmes, including the London Festival of Architecture, Don’t Move, Improve! and the London Real Estate Forum.

 

Guildhall is the home of the City of London Corporation and the centre of government in the City of London. The City has produced a unique historic environment of exceptional richness and significance, and has a long-running relationship with NLA as a Principal Partner of the organisation. NLA currently manages The City Centre on behalf of the City of London Corporation.

 

Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said: “We are very excited to welcome The London Centre to Guildhall. This move will help to provide a fantastic platform for our unique built environment, helping to attract people with an interest to the City. It will support our Destination City vision, which is transforming the Square Mile’s leisure offer to create a leading destination for visitors, workers, and residents to enjoy.”

Following a long residency in the Building Centre, in June 2021 NLA opened a series of mobile galleries, enlivening high streets and places across London. Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross was the first meanwhile space for NLA’s exhibition and the New London Model, followed by Westfield, Stratford City, as part of a programme celebrating ten years of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The London Centre will form the next home for the NLA gallery.

 

Benjamin O’Connor, Director of Content and Communications at NLA, said: “We see enormous opportunities for this space and are delighted to open The London Centre in such a prestigious and central location with the new Elizabeth line minutes away from our front door. The built environment community ranging from international investors to schoolchildren will have access to NLA’s content, shaping the future of London, while our existing community will be able to showcase significant developments and new materials that are helping us to achieve net zero ambitions – one of the most important conversations in the built environment. We are very excited to see how the space evolves and how the built environment community makes the most of it.”