Barbican Centre

About Barbican Centre

Performing arts centre in the City of London

The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe, set in the heart of the Barbican Estate in the City of London. It hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions, and houses a public library, three restaurants and a conservatory, a fully covered tropical garden that is the second-largest glasshouse in London. The London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are based in its Concert Hall, and in 2013 the Royal Shakespeare Company once again made it its London home after leaving in 2001. It was built as the City of London's gift to the nation at a cost of £161 million (equivalent to £574 million in 2025) and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1982. Together with the Southbank Centre it is one of London's best-known examples of brutalist architecture, with a lake, fountains and concrete terraces that, after decades of controversy, have become beloved of architecture enthusiasts and photographers. The centre also has a large art gallery with changing exhibitions and the Curve, a curved gallery for specially commissioned works, and it is one of the cultural centres easiest to visit by day without a ticket, wandering its walkways, lakeside and conservatory on open days.

Where:

London, United Kingdom