"A £240 million renovation of the Barbican Arts Centre is set to get started after the City of London granted full planning permission. However, it will also see the Barbican close for a year to allow the rebuilding to take place. When it opened in 1982, the arts centre was described as "one of the wonders of the modern world." Although the core building still matches its lofty ambitions, decades of wear and internal changes have interfered with the original vision."
"Many of the back-of-house facilities are also hopelessly outdated and inefficient, which increases the building's operating costs. The arts centre has now been permitted to repair what needs repairing, replace the worn-out, and revamp the layout to make it easier to find things. They also plan to improve disabled access, which was good for the time it was built, but is not quite what we would expect today. Oh, and add a lot more toilets."
"The redevelopment of the Barbican Centre was chosen as an alternative to building a new concert hall on the former Museum of London site, and it allows them to address some of the inherent problems with the Barbican Centre at the same time. The first phase of the restoration will focus on the Barbican's distinctive brutalist foyers, lakeside terrace and opening up the Conservatory so that more people can visit it."
The Barbican Arts Centre will undergo a £240 million renovation after planning permission from the City of London. The main centre will close for events from the end of June 2028 to June 2029, with cinemas on Beech Street remaining open and the London Symphony Orchestra relocating to temporary venues. Restoration will repair worn fabric, replace outdated back-of-house systems, improve circulation and disabled access, and add more toilets. The first phase targets brutalist foyers, the lakeside terrace and expanding access to the Conservatory. Later works will tackle complex basement boiler and infrastructure replacements.
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