Past and present of furniture at the Barbican Centre
Renowned 20th century designer Robin Day crafted the Centre’s original furniture with bespoke seating, sofas, chairs and tables. This furniture directly responded to the building’s Brutalist architecture and, when the Centre opened, was an integral to the Barbican’s design and visitor experience.
Over time, most of this original furniture has been replaced, with the current approach to furniture across the Barbican’s public spaces lacking consistency and not fully meeting current user needs.
Feedback from audiences and co-design work has identified a desire for furniture that is more welcoming, cohesive in identity, and better suited to accessibility requirements.
The Centre also needs it to be flexible to accommodate the wide range of uses and activities across its public spaces.
About this future opportunity
A future furniture commission will cover furniture strategy, bespoke furniture design, reuse of existing pieces, and the selection of off-the-shelf furniture across key public areas. Designers will be asked to think creatively about accessibility, flexibility and sustainability, for all audiences and artists who visit the Centre, and for any occasion.
Feedback gathered through this exercise will help inform the future procurement process, which will launch in 2026.
About preliminary market engagement (PME)
PME is where the City of London Corporation (in this case via the Barbican Centre), at an early stage in the development of its proposals but prior to formulating any formal procurement opportunity, seeks input from the market as to what might be the most attractive way of packaging and scoping a future procurement opportunity.
This exercise will provide an opportunity for the Barbican Centre to obtain insight into how participants might approach the delivery of the service in question. It also gives a useful early insight into the likely level of interest in a proposed project from that market.
Participants must note that a response to this notice does not guarantee an invitation to participate in this or any future procurement that the Barbican Centre / City of London Corporation may conduct, nor that the Barbican Centre / City of London Corporation will procure any such supply and services or accept any proposals offered.
Any Procurement of the supply and services by the Barbican Centre / City of London Corporation will be carried out strictly in accordance with the Procurement Act (PA23).
