The Barbican’s conservatory is the thing most people search for and the one part of the building you cannot currently get into. The Barbican says it has no upcoming dates for public openings of the Conservatory, and that it is closed to the public on any date not listed. Most guides still describe it as somewhere you can turn up.
Everything else about the Barbican is easier than its reputation for being hard to find. Here is what is open, when, and what costs nothing.
What you can walk into for free
The building and foyers are free to explore and open to everyone, whether you have a ticket to an event or not. The Barbican says so itself: meeting friends, studying, grabbing a coffee, or simply passing through.
The foyer hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 11pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 11pm, and bank holidays 11am to 11pm. It is one of the few London arts buildings open until eleven every night.
There is a free installation in the foyers, Concrete and Clay: Archiving the Barbican, which runs from 10 February 2025 to 1 January 2027 and is about the buildings and their history.
The Conservatory
The Conservatory is the second biggest in London, designed by the Barbican’s architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. It sits around the Barbican Theatre’s fly tower, the space from which scenery is lowered to the stage six storeys below. The roof is steel and glass, covers 23,000 square feet, and shelters over 1,600 cubic metres of soil, all of it hand mixed. It was planted between 1980 and 1981 and opened in 1984.
Admission is free but ticketed, and tickets are released online one month in advance. A limited number of day tickets are released from 9.30am on each day the Conservatory is open. The entrance, for ticket and bag checks, is on Level 3. Dogs are not allowed except guide dogs, and large bags, luggage, prams and buggies are not allowed in.
At the time of checking there were no public dates, and a plant adoption event was planned for 2 December. If you want to go, join the waiting list on the Barbican’s page, because new dates are announced there first.
Opening hours of what is inside
The hours of the individual venues vary with the day’s events, so treat these as a guide.
The Art Gallery on Level 3, currently showing Project a Black Planet: closed Monday, open Tuesday and Wednesday 10am to 6pm, Thursday and Friday 10am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm, and closed on bank holidays. The Curve, currently In Other Worlds: Monday 12pm to 7pm, Tuesday and Wednesday 11am to 7pm, Thursday to Saturday 10am to 9pm, Sunday 10am to 7pm.
The Barbican Kitchen is open 9am to 8pm daily. The Barbican Bar and Grill takes last orders at 9pm Monday to Saturday and 7pm on Sunday, from noon. The Martini Bar is open 5pm to 10.30pm, Monday to Saturday, on Level G. The Benugo cafe is open all day from 8.30am and closes at the end of the latest interval of a Hall or Theatre performance.
The Box Office on Level G is open 10am to 7.30pm daily and events can be booked online 24 hours a day. The Theatre and Concert Hall ticket desk on Level -1 opens 60 minutes before each performance, and the cinema desks 30 minutes before each screening.
Getting there
The Barbican Centre is on Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. It is accessible by bus, tube, train, on foot or by bicycle, and the Barbican runs a car park that can be booked in advance. The best restaurants in London and the best bars cover the evening around it, and the best views is the option when the point of the trip is height.
Barbican Centre
- Address
- Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
- Nearest
- Barbican or Moorgate
- Hours
- Foyers Monday to Friday 8am to 11pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 11pm, bank holidays 11am to 11pm. Box Office 10am to 7.30pm daily. Art Gallery closed Mondays
- Booking
- Events online 24 hours a day. The Conservatory is free but ticketed, released one month in advance, with no public dates at the time of checking
- Price
- Building and foyers free. Events and exhibitions are ticketed
- Standing
- Run with the City of London Corporation as founder and principal funder
How to get in
The Conservatory is closed to the public on any date not listed.
Where to go next
The best restaurants in London covers dinner afterwards, and the best bars covers the next drink.
Central London in Zone 1 covers what sits inside the same ring, and what is on across the galleries dates each show.
Questions we get asked
Is the Barbican Conservatory open?
Not at the moment. The Barbican says it has no upcoming dates for public openings and that the Conservatory is closed to the public on any date not listed. Admission is free but ticketed, tickets are released online one month in advance, and there is a waiting list for notice of new dates.
Is the Barbican free?
The building and foyers are free to explore and open to everyone. Events, theatre, concerts, cinema and the art gallery are ticketed. The Conservatory is free but needs a ticket when it opens.
What are the Barbican opening hours?
The building and foyers are open Monday to Friday 8am to 11pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 11pm, and bank holidays 11am to 11pm. The Box Office is open 10am to 7.30pm daily, and the hours of individual venues vary with the day's events.
Where is the Barbican Conservatory entrance?
The Conservatory entrance, for ticket and bag checks, is on Level 3. Dogs other than guide dogs are not permitted, and large bags, luggage, prams and buggies are not allowed in.
Is the Barbican Art Gallery open on Mondays?
No. It is closed on Mondays and on bank holidays, open Tuesday and Wednesday 10am to 6pm, Thursday and Friday 10am to 8pm with last entry at 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 186 in the guide.
Last checked 3 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
