Is this London's best-kept cultural secret? A royal palace transformed into a parking lot is reimagining itself once more.

• The Royal Academy of Arts and Navy headquarters are currently housed in Somerset House, a historic building in central London that was once the residence of Queen Elizabeth I.
• For over 150 years, the building served as the headquarters for the U.K.'s tax authority, and its employees utilized the spacious courtyard as a parking area.
• In 2025, Somerset House, which currently serves as a hub for cultural pioneers, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a diverse arts program.

For centuries, Somerset House has been a significant element of London's skyline, boasting impressive architecture and being situated near the River Thames and Covent Garden.

Its leaders claim that its current role as a hub for arts and culture is not fully recognized, with one describing it as "London and the U.K.'s best-kept secret."

The courtyard is famous for its winter ice rink and summer movie screenings, but many people are unaware of the hundreds of artists and creatives who work within its walls.

In 2025, the organization plans to increase its visibility through a series of exhibitions and events highlighting its artistic achievements.

"The full glory of Somerset House was not revealed at any moment. However, next year can be considered a belated moment to showcase it," said Jonathan Reekie, director of the Somerset House Trust, the organization responsible for maintaining the building and its activities for the public.

Over the centuries, Somerset House has undergone numerous changes. It was once home to Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century, and later served as a Navy headquarters, a residence for the Royal Academy of Arts, and a tax office for newspapers. Ultimately, it was completely reconstructed in 1801.

In the 1770s and 1780s, King George III constructed an "office block" for his newly formed civil service.

The Renaissance property with four large wings, including a "new" wing added in the 19th century, housed the multiple offices of the U.K. government's tax and excise authority for more than 150 years. In recent times, the courtyard was even covered with asphalt and used as a parking lot.

In 1997, the house gained charitable status after a long campaign led by Simon Jenkins and Lord Rothschild. "When Somerset House opened to the public in May 2000, this building was still mostly full of civil servants," Reekie said.

My predecessors had to negotiate with each government department to close them, and the tax authority, now known as His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, finally closed its Somerset House office in 2011.

According to Gail Rebuck, speaking at an event in September, Somerset House is a "self-sustaining home to cultural innovators." However, its diverse aspects are not always well understood. When a fire occurred in August, there was an "outpouring of concern," but news reports struggled to accurately describe Somerset House. Rebuck believes this is their fault and something they want to correct. She emphasizes that Somerset House is a unique creative cluster.

"It's also London and the U.K.'s best-kept secret … it's really important that the 3 million visitors who come through our doors actually know what goes on underneath," she said — Somerset House was the U.K.'s 10th most-visited attraction in 2023, with 2.7 million visits according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

The building houses a network of rooms and areas where multiple artists and creatives work from offices, co-working places, and studios, as referred to by Rebuck.

In 2014, when Reekie joined the organization, he was asked about Somerset House's role as a cultural space. He questioned how it could function with numerous rooms and what possibilities it presented.

Reekie's first job was to transform a long corridor of government offices into desirable rooms for artists, which are now part of Somerset House Studios. The artists' rent is subsidized by Somerset House's activities, which generate most of its income, including events like the ice rink and in-house art exhibitions, as well as renting out spaces to other organizations such as the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

Currently, approximately 60-70 artists, teams, or collectives are based at Somerset House Studios, under the supervision of director Marie McPartlin.

In 2016, the first resident of the studios was British fashion designer Gareth Pugh, followed by composer Anna Meredith. Many artists have since worked in the visual arts, with most of them focusing on socially-engaged work or emerging technologies. Collaboration is encouraged, and one high-profile artist was turned down for a studio place due to concerns about their availability.

The community is the most crucial aspect, as McPartlin stated. The majority of artists lack gallery representation, making their existence extremely unstable. However, we quickly recognized that long-term support was something Somerset House could provide. Artists reside on site for between one and seven years, with some staying for up to 10 years.

In 2025, McPartlin will exhibit "The Spell or The Dream" by Turner Prize-winning artist Tai Shani, who is a resident of the studios. The sculpture will be located at the center of the courtyard from August to September. The artwork, inspired by a sleeping beauty-type figure, will reflect on contemporary issues of our time, as stated in a release.

Lydia Ourahmane and Sophia Al Maria, both resident artists, will collaborate with McPartlin to create an artwork that examines the concept of "the right to remain." Meanwhile, BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr will showcase a new film in the courtyard that focuses on the everyday rituals of black life in the U.K.

In 2025, "Salt Cosmologies" will be an installation that will map out India's Inland Customs Line, while "Infinite Bodies" by choreographer Wayne McGregor will be the culmination of Somerset House's 25-year celebration. Additionally, the extraordinary story of a 2,500 mile-long hedge put in place by the British East India Company to enforce its Salt Tax in the late 19th century will also be highlighted.

Makerversity, a community of about 300 designers and makers, is located near the studios and shares a wood workshop, photography studio, and other "maker" spaces tucked close to the underside of Waterloo Bridge, at the far west border of Somerset House. Additionally, The Exchange, a co-working space for creatives, and the Black Business Residency, a program for black entrepreneurs, are also located in the area.

"The presence of great artists in central London is crucial, as the plan was to make it an entirely interdisciplinary space," Reekie stated.