It is only fitting that an organisation which celebrates the best of architecture should be housed in an interesting building itself – and Open City certainly is. BD met Verghese at the charity’s headquarters in Architecture00’s C1 building in the satisfyingly eclectic Greenwich Design District located near the O2 Arena in south-east London. 

The district is a collection of 16 office and workspace buildings for creative companies, designed by upcoming practices and masterplanned by HNNA. Its clashing – almost disconcerting – mix of styles is a provocatively cool addition to the Greenwich Peninsula; and a great location for London’s access-all-areas architecture charity.

Ten months in post, Verghese was keen to talk about her plans for Open City – the organisation behind London’s annual September Open House architecture festival – which describes itself as a charity “dedicated to making London and its architecture more open, accessible and equitable”. Its website puts it like this: “We open up buildings, conversations and careers to those normally locked out of them.”

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