The Peckham Experiment

The Peckham Experiment To preserve, share and explore the heritage and legacy of The Peckham Experiment. A Pioneering study into positive health and society, from 1926-1950.

OPEN HOUSE GUEST LIST WINNERSThank you to everyone who entered our Open House guest list competition. We’ve now randomly...
14/09/2026

OPEN HOUSE GUEST LIST WINNERS

Thank you to everyone who entered our Open House guest list competition. We’ve now randomly selected our four winners.

Congratulations to:

Saturday 19 September, 10am
Tim Boddy

Saturday 19 September, 4pm
Sophie

Sunday 20 September, 10am
Raquel Diniz

Sunday 20 September, 4pm


Please DM us to confirm your places.

If you can no longer make your tour, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer the places to someone on our reserve list.

Thank you again to everyone who entered, and for all the interest in visiting the Pioneer Building.

We’re looking forward to Open House next weekend! Missed out? We’ve released 8 extra tickets. Head over to our profile -...
12/09/2026

We’re looking forward to Open House next weekend! Missed out? We’ve released 8 extra tickets. Head over to our profile - to apply. Read and comment on the post - GUEST LIST is open! We will announce winners on Monday at midday. Good luck!

We’re looking forward to Open House next weekend! Missed out? We’ve released 8 extra tickets. Head over to our profile -...
10/09/2026

We’re looking forward to Open House next weekend! Missed out? We’ve released 8 extra tickets. Head over to our profile - to apply. GUEST LIST is open!

Missed out on our Open House tours?We’re giving away 8 additional tickets, four pairs, exclusively on Instagram.Saturday...
10/09/2026

Missed out on our Open House tours?

We’re giving away 8 additional tickets, four pairs, exclusively on Instagram.

Saturday 19 September, 10am / 4pm
Sunday 20 September, 10am / 4pm

To enter:

• Follow thepeckhamexperiment
• Comment SAT 10 / SAT 4 / SUN 10 / SUN 4 or ANY
• Tell us if you’d like one ticket or a pair
• Tag someone who might be interested in the Pioneer Building

We’ll draw the names at midday on Monday 14 September.

These tickets will not appear on the Open House booking page. Winners will be added directly to The Peckham Experiment CIC guest list.

Join us in our centenary year to explore Sir Owen Williams’s extraordinary Grade II* listed Pioneer Building and discover the story of the Peckham Experiment.

Please share with anyone who missed out.

Open City

OPEN HOUSE 2026Bookings are now live from midday on Wednesday 19 August.To book, you’ll need to first register for a fre...
19/08/2026

OPEN HOUSE 2026

Bookings are now live from midday on Wednesday 19 August.

To book, you’ll need to first register for a free Open House account, then log in and head to the Pioneer Centre listing from midday. Last year, all our Pioneer Building tours sold out in just four hours, so make sure you’re ready!

As The Peckham Experiment CIC marks the centenary of the Peckham Experiment, join us for a guided tour of Sir Owen Williams’s extraordinary Grade II* listed Pioneer Building, purpose-built in 1935 for the Experiment. Discover its radical architecture, surviving spaces and the story of the people and ideas that brought it to life.

Open House link in bio.

Open City

OPEN HOUSE 2026Bookings go live at midday on Wednesday 19 August.To book, you’ll need to first register for a free Open ...
18/08/2026

OPEN HOUSE 2026

Bookings go live at midday on Wednesday 19 August.

To book, you’ll need to first register for a free Open House account, then log in and head to the Pioneer Centre listing from midday. Last year, all our Pioneer Building tours sold out in just four hours, so make sure you’re ready!

As The Peckham Experiment CIC marks the centenary of the Peckham Experiment, join us for a guided tour of Sir Owen Williams’s extraordinary Grade II* listed Pioneer Building, purpose-built in 1935 for the Experiment. Discover its radical architecture, surviving spaces and the story of the people and ideas that brought it to life.

Open House link in bio.

Open City

What does it mean to be truly healthy?The Peckham Experiment saw health as social.The Pioneer Centre brought families to...
22/07/2026

What does it mean to be truly healthy?

The Peckham Experiment saw health as social.

The Pioneer Centre brought families together through shared space and shared activity. People swam, danced, played games, joined clubs, watched, learned, helped, returned and became known to one another.

The doctors were interested in how community formed through participation.

They wrote that neighbourliness grew through “contacts of common interest and action.”

And one of the strongest lines from the Experiment still lands today:

“skill shared seems to be the fertilizer of neighbourliness.”

A class.
A club.
A game.
A dance.
A swim.
A conversation.

This was part of how health was cultivated.

What helps people feel able to take part?

What does it mean to be truly healthy?This question sits at the heart of the Peckham Experiment.The Peckham Experiment b...
22/07/2026

What does it mean to be truly healthy?

This question sits at the heart of the Peckham Experiment.

The Peckham Experiment began in 1926, led by pathologists Innes Pearse and George Scott Williamson. They wanted to study health as something active: something shaped through the relationship between people, families and their environment.

By 1935, their work had moved into the purpose-built Pioneer Centre in Peckham: a family health club with a swimming pool, gym, nursery, theatre, cafeteria, social spaces and regular health overhauls.

In Biologists in Search of Material, health was defined as:

“the physiological condition of an organism living in mutual synthesis with its environment.”

That idea shaped everything.

Health was explored through family life, movement, food, play, social contact, self-direction, shared space and participation.

One hundred years later, The Peckham Experiment CIC is returning to this question.

What is health and can it be cultivated?

Address

Pioneer Building
London
SE152EE

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