Every year, the FCO on King Charles Street, London, welcomes thousands of visitors during the Open House Weekend to hear about the formation of the office, the historic Fine rooms, the impressive architecture and the symbolic importance of this building in Britain’s past.

Visitors will also have a chance to meet FCO staff and to hear about life in the FCO today.

Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomes visitors to Open House London

Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomes visitors to Open House London

Read the transcript of the Foreign Secretary’s video message for Open House
[PDF, 144KB, 1 page]

Visitors are welcome to come to the FCO between 10.00 and 17.00 (last entry 16.30) on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September.

Download our audio tour via RSS or iTunes before you come to hear details of the architecture and history as you walk through the magnificent FCO.

To include your photos in our Instagram Open House group, add #FCOOpenHouse to your caption or tag us in the picture using ukforeignoffice.

The FCO Historians will be tweeting interesting facts throughout the day, so follow them on twitter @FCOHistorians.

Open House London, an Open-City initiative, celebrates all that is best about the capital’s buildings, places and neighbourhoods.

Every September, it gives a unique opportunity to get out and under the skin of London’s amazing architecture, with over 700 buildings of all kinds opening their doors to everyone – all for free.

Further information

Open House London 2013

Read a brief history of the FCO building

History of Government blog post on Locarno Suite, one of the FCO’s Fine Rooms

Follow the Foreign Office on twitter @foreignoffice

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