Barbican Centre
- Art lovers
- Performing arts enthusiasts
- Families with children
What Visitors Say
The Barbican Centre is easily one of my favourite places to spend some time! There's always something to see whether it's theatre, art, dance, music or film - there's something for all interests. Thoroughly enjoyed the Noah Davis exhibition, which gave a fresh insight into introducing me to a new artist who is now one of my favourites. There's also lots of free installations and events to see to - so not everything is ticketed. It's a great to go for drinks and chill ad relax too. The Barbican Centre is easy to get to via public transport, accessible and located centrally near lots of places nearby to get something to eat. Not forgetting that you can also buy food and drinks within the Barbican Centre as there are bars/restaurants/cafes inside. And there's also an onsite library and shops inside too - what more could you want?! Always worthwhile a visit!
A fantastic venue for live music in the heart of London. Getting there can be a bit of a lottery because of the central location, but having an on-site car park that is easy to book in advance makes things much easier. The concert hall is excellent, with great acoustics and a really enjoyable atmosphere. The concert itself was absolutely wonderful. I would definitely recommend Barbican Centre.
A must-see spot in London if you are interested in architectural history. It is a landmark of Brutalist architecture. The complex combines residential estates with a cultural venue hosting concerts and exhibitions. It also features a cinema, a gift shop, and restaurants. I recommend it for a family day out.
First time visiting the Barbican, and I must say I was very impressed by its striking Brutalist architecture. In particular, the descent down to the stalls creates an interesting visual perspective, with the illuminated arches leading to each individual row adding a distinctive architectural touch. The seats themselves were comfortable, although they did not automatically fold up when standing, which made it more difficult for people to pass along the row during the performance. As for High Society, it was generally an enjoyable production. Unfortunately, around ten minutes in, the actor playing George appeared to forget his lines, resulting in the scene having to be restarted. Thankfully, it resumed from the beginning of that scene rather than from the start of the show, and the cast recovered well. I also felt that the understudy performing Dexter’s songs was occasionally slightly off-key, although this did not significantly detract from the overall experience. There were also some issues during the interval. The queues became quite congested and made it difficult to see what refreshments were available, suggesting that the organisation of the bar and service areas could have been improved. The facilities were less impressive. The toilets had an unpleasant smell, and there were particularly long queues for the women’s toilets, which added to the congestion during the interval. Exiting the venue proved somewhat challenging. The stairways created bottlenecks, particularly as some older audience members understandably needed to take the stairs slowly, causing delays in leaving the auditorium. Overall, despite a few operational issues, some challenges with the facilities, and a couple of performance mishaps, I enjoyed both the production and the experience of visiting the Barbican. The venue’s unique architecture alone makes it worth a visit, and High Society remains an entertaining musical.
We went there and saw a shakspear play. The building itself is a very nice brutalist architecture and from the inside it is pretty spacious and comfortable. The theatre room that we visited was very pretty and i loved how the doors closed and that each row had its own entrance. They had a nice souvenir shop with a photoautomat. Great experience.
Highlights
Barbican Conservatory
A rainforest tucked in a theatre’s roofMore than 1,500 species soften the brutalist grid—ferns, palms and koi pooled among catwalks and concrete.
Level 3, above the theatre fly-tower (Sun & selected dates)
Lakeside Terrace
Water, brick and concrete in quiet choreographyRills and fountains stitch the estate to the arts centre; in summer, planters turn the podium into a garden square.
Level G, south side
Barbican Art Gallery & The Curve
Flagship shows + a 90-metre arcMuseum-scale exhibitions upstairs; downstairs a single sinuous gallery invites installations that unfold as you walk.
Level 3 (Gallery); Level G (Curve)
Concert Hall Warmth
Brutalism outside, teak and glow withinThe hall’s copper hues and timber baffles make a surprise: intimacy inside a megastructure.
Level -1 to Level 4, Hall
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
A medieval survivor in a modern fortressBombed area, intact church: Perpendicular Gothic stones set among tower blocks—London time travel in 30 steps.
Podium, east of the lake
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
The Barbican stands on the former Cripplegate ward—so heavily bombed in WWII that planners could design an entire raised city from scratch.
Its conservatory is London’s second-largest after Kew—built to cloak the theatre’s backstage fly-tower in greenery.
Queen Elizabeth II opened the centre in 1982 and called it “one of the wonders of the modern world.”
The estate and arts centre are knitted by ‘highwalks’—pedestrian routes one level up—so you can cross a big chunk of the City without touching a road.
Those rough vertical lines in the concrete are deliberate: bush-hammered finishes that catch light and give scale to the megastructure.
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