For fans of the video game SimCity, the biggest pleasure is not merely to create a prosperous city, but to build a safe place where traffic flows smoothly, where residents are happy and with a minimum number of natural disasters (including Godzilla attacks).

Visiting the Building Centre in central London is like stepping into the video game. Along with an impressive model of London, the Centre encourages visitors to learn about the latest developments in architecture and urban design affecting the capital. Spending an hour or so at the Building Centre shows just how challenging keeping a busy city like London organised, as well as beautiful, can be.

The Centre regularly hosts exhibitions, debates and seminars aimed at these topics. Other exciting events tackle a range of issues from interior design to the psychology of building design for people’s well being!

For those passionate about these subjects, there’s a bookshop where curious visitors can take books home to feed their interests. Even for those with little knowledge of urban design or the intricacies of environmentally-friendly architecture, spending time at the Building Centre will give you topics to think about next time you wander London…or play SimCity.