London School of Hygiene Disease Frieze
a building decorated with deadly bugs
An Art Deco facade in Bloomsbury studded with the gilded names and figures of the insects and parasites that spread disease.
Free to visit · Bloomsbury · Goodge Street · WC1E 7HT
Opening: Exterior viewable any time
Most grand buildings honour heroes and saints on their facades, but the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine took a different approach. Around its handsome 1920s building in Bloomsbury, the names of pioneering scientists are picked out in gilt, alongside something stranger, gilded bronze figures of the mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, flies and rats that carry the world's great killer diseases.
It is a fittingly unflinching choice for a school dedicated to fighting them. Look up and you will spot the enemies of public health immortalised in gold. It is free to admire, a brilliant and slightly macabre piece of scientific decoration that rewards anyone who knows to look.
Getting there: On Keppel Street in Bloomsbury, a couple of minutes from Goodge Street.
Best time to go: A bright day to catch the gilded names glinting on the facade.
Insider tip: Look up at the balcony level for the gilded insects and vermin set among the scientists' names. It is a quick free stop in Bloomsbury, easily paired with the nearby disease frieze's neighbour institutions and squares.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide