Saved events

Conservatory Plant Adoption

Conservatory

Bring home a living piece of the Barbican Conservatory

Tickets for our Young Barbican special event, taking place on 29 November, have now sold out.

Alongside a plant adoption with Wayward Plants, this event will also include creative and interactive sessions, as part of our recently announced Young Barbican Events programme. 

  • Our final plant adoption event will take place on 2 December. 
  • Due to limited capacity, we will not be accepting walk-ins for these events.

Tickets for this final event are not yet on sale via Barbican website, but check back later for more information, and sign up to our newsletters to be the first to know. 

Ticket prices

Free

Adopt a plant

Ahead of the Conservatory’s major restoration, Wayward Plants are carefully taking thousands of cuttings from a wide range of specimens and propagating them at their reuse centre into new plants to be adopted.

Wayward plants will lead the adoption process, where you’ll be able to learn about the different specimen types and how to care for them, visit the host plants from which cuttings have been taken, and take a plant to continue growing at home.

Adoption details

  • Due to limited capacity, we will not be accepting walk-ins for these events
     
  • Free tickets are limited to 40 per time slot.
     
  • Please note that the propagated cuttings are of different sizes, depending on the host plant, and you will not be adopting a full mature plant from the Conservatory. They will be given free of charge in good health for you to continue to grow at home.
     
  • One plant per ticket booker is available upon completion of the adoption process. We encourage you to stay and enjoy exploring the Conservatory and to make a donation to help restore our iconic Conservatory.

About the Barbican Conservatory Renewal

The iconic Barbican Conservatory is getting ready for a major restoration starting in January 2027.

All the plants need to be removed from the Conservatory so that it can be fully re-waterproofed, re-glazed and re-landscaped, protecting the Barbican Theatre which sits beneath.

In addition to propagating new plants from cuttings, suitable plants will be stored in their entirety to be re-planted in the space, while others will be donated to other organisations and community projects.

The new Conservatory design will be more sustainable and fully accessible to all, with redesigned pathways and ramps as well as a new lift and staircase to the upper balconies.

Find out more about Renewal

About Wayward Plants

Wayward Plants is an initiative founded 20 years ago by Wayward, an award-winning design and placemaking practice best known as pioneers in “meanwhile spaces,” transforming vacant urban land and interim-use sites into design-led, culturally activated green spaces.

Wayward Plants’ work with the Barbican began in 2009 with its first London-based Wayward Plant Adoption Event at the exhibition Radical Nature: Art & Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009.

This story has come full circle through collaboration with the Barbican Conservatory Renewal. Working alongside the Barbican’s horticultural team, Wayward is propagating thousands of cuttings at the Wayward Plants Reuse Centre. These are shared through Wayward Plant Adoption Events at the Barbican, allowing members of the public to take home a living piece of the Conservatory.

Location
The Barbican Conservatory is located on Level 3, if you’re coming from inside the main Barbican building.

From the Barbican highwalks, follow signs to the ‘Barbican Centre’. Walking from Barbican tube station, you’ll see a steps with ‘Art Gallery’ above them, these will lead you up to the Sculpture Court where you'll see a sign for the Conservatory. 

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.