Open House Hobart Turns Ten!

Open House Hobart invites locals and visitors to take a look behind the doors of some of Hobart’s most interesting and beautiful buildings as it celebrates its tenth year this November.

Opening dozens of buildings – many of which are private homes – is no small feat for the small team who makes Open House happen. “There might only be a handful of us in the office, but there is an army of supporters behind us. The building owners, sponsors and volunteers really make the event happen through their willingness to get behind the program, and share their spaces and their knowledge”, says Jennifer Nichols, Executive Director of the Tasmanian Chapter of the Institute of the Architects and co-founder of Open House Hobart.

At its heart, Open House Hobart is about civic pride and the role buildings play in contributing to our sense of place. Nichols says the aim of Open House is to promote well-designed architecture: “A good quality built environment improves health and wellbeing. This applies to all forms of architecture, from public buildings to private residences, highlighting that good design adds value and has the potential to inspire.”

With so many open buildings, tours and events on the Open House Hobart program, the weekend of 12-13 November promises to be a busy one, and will be the first Open House event since 2019 that interstate visitors can attend. Organisers are quietly hoping that Open House Hobart will return to a pre-pandemic attendance that peaked at more than 20,000 visits in 2019. While putting together an event of this scale is a huge logistical challenge, event producer Katie Katos says the positive response from attendees makes it all worth it. “Every year the outpouring of gratitude from the community amazes me. I love hearing people’s stories from the weekend, the buildings they visited and the things they learnt. It is often the most unassuming buildings that surprise people the most. I encourage people to look beyond the coveted homes and take dive into some of the other buildings that are on offer. Every building has a story to tell behind those closed doors.”

No doubt there will be plenty to celebrate as Open House Hobart marks its tenth year, an achievement shared by a growing community of organisers, building owners, architects, volunteers and proud Hobartians.

Open House Hobart: 12-13 November, 2022

Explore the full program and book online at openhousehobart.org