Barbican Centre Reviews 

I recently visited the Barbican Centre, and I was extremely disappointed with the new bathroom setup. Jumping on the bandwagon, the Barbican has decided to replace the ordinary male and female toilets with gender-neutral cubicles and urinals. This change appears to be more about virtue signalling rather than practical customer service.

For the vast majority of patrons, this change is incredibly inconvenient. Instead of having clear, separate facilities, we now have to navigate through a confusing and uncomfortable setup that seems to cater to a tiny minority at the expense of the 99.9% of the population.

The cubicles lack the privacy and efficiency of traditional restrooms, and the urinals are awkward and impractical. No woman wants to walk between 2 walls of peeing men and the guys can normally be out in a minute if they have urinals. Now, both men (even those who just need to pee) and women are using the cubicles and the result is women are waiting even longer than they used to. This is a prime example of how trying to appease a small group can lead to dissatisfaction for the majority.

It's disappointing to see common sense being overridden by political correctness. I hope the management reconsiders this decision and brings back the standard restroom facilities that worked perfectly fine for everyone.

This review is both about Barbican Centre and the Anita-Dalrymple show on 8th July 2024. Like many others, I always felt that the Barbican centre was a rather confusing place to find your way about, especially if you need to use the toilet. Last time around, about a year back, I had to use a disabled persons' toilet - there was no other option! But yesterday, they had put up some temporary toilets, which were better than the regular ones in most high-class halls in town. Full marks to them for this - hope the facilities are made permanent. Oh, whatever Barbican Centre lacks, polite, helpful staff is not one of them. Every single staff and volunteer is outstandingly friendly.
The Anita-Dalrymple Talk-show was rather disappointing despite some fantastic (and horribly true) statistics about the way England gathered its ill-gotten riches at the expense of India and China. One expects a show scheduled to start at 8 pm (as it is, a late start), to start at 8 pm. If you turn up a minute late for a show, you are usually unceremoniously shunted out, or told to wait till a "break" in the show - which could well coincide with "the end". But a 15- minute delay was announced, but no one shunted out the show organisers. The show eventually began at 8.20 pm to much fanfare and applauding, and Dalrymple justified the delay as being his way of adhering to Indian Standard Time. Rather poor taste for a man who is such a self-proclaimed Indophile. Vestiges of Colonialism at work, may be?
Then Anita and he decided to take a mid-show break - all very well, of course, they need to search for toilets too, like many of the audience, but close to 40 minutes? That is certainly something-else standard time. Anita proved she is not just from Essex, but is a true brit, totally removed from her Indian origins - by declaring that the Tamil word that may have been the root for "Indian Curry" was "Kaari". Come on, Anita, Tamil deserves better from you. Learn the correct pronunciation of kariveppilai. And Dalrymple declared with authority that the arrival of tea wiped out coffee from India. No, William, it did NOT. It came close to that in "north" India. In the south, we never stopped drinking proper filter coffee, the taste of which the Starbucks and such-like will not be able to reproduce in a million years. You and I both know colonialism is not coming back – ever.

The toilet facilities are inadequate. When I attended there were no disabled toilets open on either the ground level or the main auditorium, and the main toilets were dirty and a lot are not working, and there were long queues. This just isn’t acceptable in a major London venue.

Saw the brilliant Alison Balsom. Great music. Spoilt by second half of sentimental tosh. Most left quickly. Food is poor and buying it is complex. Toilets poor.

The event I attended was fantastic - the BBC Orchestra live playing the score to a screening of the film 'The Death of Stalin', followed by a discussion that included the composer, Christopher Willis, Armando Iannucci, the director, and Michael Palin, the actor. It was both enjoyable and illuminating. I was really impressed by the composer's ability to express himself in the idiom of Shostakovich.
This kind of event is a great way to interest people who are not familiar with classical music in the role of the symphony orchestra. However, the proceedings were marred by the dismal state of the toilets which have been in a state of disrepair for months. A) the cubicles in the women's toilets are too small in the first place, B) about 40% of the toilets are labelled as out of order and C) the rest of them don't function properly anyway. As another reviewer has said, this is unacceptable, and it adds considerable stress to the occasion, and will be a deterrent for me on future occasions.
The queue for the womens' toilets was so long that there was no point in queuing. I had to wait until everyone was back in the concert hall before I could go.
Toilets are not labelled 'gender neutral' so while the men were skipping gaily in and out of their facilities, women were stuck in this log jam. This is discriminatory practice, and I am sick and tired of experiencing it at concert halls and theatres across London. For God's sake, Barbican, get your act together.

Tasty drink… I tried three flavors, the classic one, the pink and the yellow one… all are so tasty….. @barbican

Travelled for over an hour to the Barbican cinema to see Anselm. We picked the Barbican as it was advertised as 3D
Booked online.
On making our way into the cinema itself we were casually told by one of the staff that “by the way it is 2D not 3D advertised”. No apology. Just a passing remark.
When we asked why we were told “because none of our screens are 3D”.
Still no apology.
Told that “we might be able to get a refund if we don’t want to go in but can’t guarantee”.
After that journey we decided to go in but frankly much of the impact of the movie was lost in 2D.
We could have gone to a local cinema at half the price for 2D.
Dreadful customer experience and a clear misrepresentation. It was clear that the Barbican didn’t care.

Appalling toilet facilities.
The music at the concert we attended last night was wonderful as one would expect from the LSO. However, the condition and availability of toilets at the venue was disgraceful. At least two of the gents toilet facilities appeared to be closed. The toilet that I used had only two functioning sinks. Consequently a long queue formed at the sinks. The toilets themselves needed to be cleaned.
My partner who used the women's lavatory, found that on flushing, the toilet appeared to be blocked and nearly overflowing.
In consequence of the long wait for toilets we were late in ordering our interval drinks. When we attempted to enter the concert hall with our drinks in plastic glasses, we were told by a rather unfriendly door attendant that we could not take the drinks passed the door. No warning was given about this regulation at the bar. The rule about using plastic glasses in the hall does not in my experience apply at some other London venues e.g. the Albert Hall. I was told by the door attendant that the rule was printed in the programme and that was an end of the matter. Consequently we were forced to leave our drinks outside the hall and forgo the interval refreshment for which we had paid, basically due to the unacceptable toilets facilities.
The Barbican is a major London music venue and in many respects a national icon. The standard of toilet facilities was completely unacceptable and requires urgent managerial attention. We were greatly saddened to see that basic facilities like toilets had been so neglected at the Barbican

Excellent music, food, and hospitality.
A world-class venue that's been done justice with this company - really enjoyed the concert.

Excellent food.
Excellent service.
We were served by a very tall chap, I believe his name was Luke.
He was extremely personable, knowledgeable, attentive and ensured that our allergies were taken into account when we ordered.
Highly Recommended.

Great place, great atmosphere. I have been a regular for quite a while and never disappointed.

Toilets no tapwater pilets overflowing Toilets difficult to find and right inside a busy resturant at the back .
3 toilets 3 sinks
WHEN I FLUSHED TOILET OVERFLOWED.
No Taps working so hands covered in soap and no way of cleaning it off grubby
place.Staff wrr excellent and very helpful .
THE CONCERT WAS SO LOUD I HAD TO LEAVE STAFF AGREED AND HAD EARPLUGS IF I WANTED TO GO BACK IN .THE SOUND WAS DISTORTED BECAUSE OF VOLUME .WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY AND THE DIFFICULT JOURNEY I HAD

I attended the matinee performance of Anything Goes yesterday with a friend at the Barbican Centre, an experience I’d rather not repeat. The seats in the theatre were very uncomfortable and do not ‘flip up’ so when someone wants to pass through, you have to squash your feet under the seat. The toilets we visited were gender neutral which might explain why they were not clean. It appears nobody checks them during opening hours. Finding your way around is not easy and the communal bar area is very tired and unwelcoming. The whole experience left my friend and I with the feeling that we would never go back. To find the centre in the first place was a nightmare. We are fit and can walk easily. For someone with mobility difficulties, I have no idea how they would cope. All in all it’s 2 out of 5 score from me and that is only because the staff were very pleasant even if they seemed bemused about where we needed to go when we asked directions.

Great Noguchi exhibition! I deducted a star as the women’s toilets had no access to period products...I am sure I am not the only one that has found this inconvenient.

I booked an online stream of Monteverdi vespers. Getting access to the stream was tortuous. It was supposed to be for 48 hours but my access ended after 24 hours. I won’t book anything with them again.

Update:they were very helpful and they reissued the ticket so I have increased my rating from 2 to 4 stars

Had a fantastic time.

The decor could use and upgrade but I really did enjoy everything.

Booked evening tickets to a concert for a 21st two months in advance. Barbican cancelled with short notice saying I could book the afternoon performance, however, most of the tickets were already sold for that performance so seats not nearly as good. Wrote to them 6 days ago and was told management would be in touch within 5 days. No contact yet from them. Poor show Barbican!

Davóne Tines concert access booking. I emailed the Barbican to make arrangements to see this recital and they called me back within the hour.
A nice lady with a beautiful voice kindly helped organise the booking and the parking too for which I was so grateful. Her name was Hannah and I'd like to thank her. She was a diamond.

Love the brutalist place. I didn't know that word and mostly no-one else did. It was just an arts centre a bit like the Pompidou Centre but not quite as good. I now realise and love the architecture and can identity other buildings like the despised Tower Hotel. I love the John Wayne film Brannigan.

Booked for a guided Architecture Tour (06/06/21). Not the most riveting subject for some - but it was excellent. Superb value for money with the tour lasting almost 2 hours: but it was our guide who gave this tour far more than the expected level of interest, and enjoyment. With an engaging presentation and an impressive depth of knowledge (without notes) she brought this huge concrete edifice to life. We left certain that we would return.