Open House London - Millennium Mills

The Silvertown Partnership is partnering with architecture education organisation Open-City to offer select Londoners the chance to get inside Millennium Mills, one of London’s most iconic buildings. It will be the first time that the public have ever had the opportunity to gain access.

Tours will take place during Open House London – a citywide celebration of the buildings, places and spaces where we live and work – and will give ticket holders exclusive access to its huge factory floors, narrow hidden stairways, giant grain silos, old machinery and equipment, as well as the incredible views of the development from its 10 storey high roof.

Located in Silvertown, East London, the Mills is rich in history. Designed and built by millers William Vernon & Sons in 1905, it became famous for its flour girls and rate of flour production. Partially destroyed by London’s biggest ever explosion in 1917 and further bombings during WWII, it was rebuilt numerous times and later became home to Spiller Ltd, makers of the famous Winalot dog biscuits.

Once abandoned in the early 1980s, the building became famous as the atmospheric backdrop for films like Full Metal Jacket and music videos for the likes of Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys.

Millennium Mills is currently undergoing a major renovation as part of a £3.5billion redevelopment of Silvertown, to create London’s new Creative Capital, making this the last opportunity to see the building in its abandoned state. The development aims to create 5m sq ft of new business space, 3,000 new homes and more than 20,000 new jobs. As part of this, the building will be restored to retain its art deco frontage, high ceilings and industrial charm to become a hub for business start-ups, innovators and accelerators, setting the tone for the entire development.

Over the next 10 years, Silvertown will be transformed into a new part of the city, a mixed use development offering new commercial and brand spaces, homes, leisure, culture, new parks and gardens and 1km of new water frontage. It will be a beacon for commerce and creativity, providing businesses with unique and affordable brand hubs to immerse a consumer into their values and become more consumer facing.