Our proposals are for Phase 1 of Barbican Renewal, 2025-2030, covering plans for the Foyers, Lakeside and Conservatory.
After more than 40 years of intensive activity, the Centre is now in urgent need of upgrade and improvement. Barbican Renewal will celebrate and enhance the Centre’s unique architecture and design heritage, ensuring it can be enjoyed by future generations. This includes revitalising existing spaces, improving access for all visitors, and making the building more efficient and sustainable.
Based on our priorities for Renewal and the feedback from early consultation and engagement, we have developed these design principles to guide the project’s development:
- Repair and conserve
- Design for all
- Reactivate space
- Focus on sustainability
The Foyers
Barbican Renewal will improve everyone’s experience of getting around the Barbican Centre. We will add a new lift to connect the ground floor to different levels of the Theatre and Concert Hall, and automatic doors to main entrances.
Improving lighting, adding more facilities like toilets, and removing unnecessary clutter means restoring the beauty, generosity and scale of the Centre’s original architectural design. New flexible staging and lighting on Level –1 will enable exciting new creative programming opportunities.
The Lakeside
Renewal will repair and conserve the Lakeside and Catering Block, replacing broken tiling, undertaking essential waterproofing works and restoring the fountains to full operational use.
The works will also upgrade key features to make the space more sustainable, including new, sensitive lighting around the Lakeside edge, restoring original planting by the Lake and on balconies and terraces to increase biodiversity, and shading restaurant areas to reduce overheating.
The Conservatory
Reactivating the Conservatory requires providing a welcoming space for everyone, with floors regraded and pathways widened to deliver a fully accessible space. A new lift and stair will open the fly tower balconies to the public for the first time. Enclosing the Conservatory Terrace in a new, glazed structure will enable us to continue to host private events there, while opening the Conservatory to the public.
In the main spaces, plants will receive better care with improved, environmental conditions, facilities and a purpose-built plant nursery. New passive heating and cooling systems will significantly reduce energy use.
