Barbican Centre

The Barbican Centre, a world-renowned cultural and arts complex which was first opened in 1982, is built on a site that was flattened during the Blitz and took more than 30 years to design and build.

The proposition to create an arts centre on the wasteland was not put forward until 1959, to include a theatre, a concert hall, an art gallery, a public lending library and a restaurant.
It was also originally designed to be home to the Royal Shakespeare Company, however, the Company made a somewhat unpopular decision to only stay resident at the Barbican for six months per year.

The auditorium has a complex seating arrangement that means no seat is more than 65 feet away from the stage to give a more personal-feeling performance.

In 1997 the Barbican underwent a huge renovation. In 2002 the Royal Shakespeare Company terminated their affiliation with the Barbican and the venue has now become one of the top locations for international theatre. The Barbican also became a grade II listed building in 2002.

The Barbican Art Gallery has two exhibition spaces, the large open gallery on the first floor and continuous corridor display space above. Admission to the art gallery covers both exhibitions of which there are around seven a year.