Sustainable Makeover at The Barbican

The Barbican is one of the world’s leading conference and international arts venues. Located in the City of London, it is perfect for anything from 2 to 2,000 delegates in its fully equipped concert hall, theatres, conference suites and boardrooms.

Built as part of London’s Barbican development and officially opened in March 1982 by HM Queen Elizabeth, unlike many other venues, Barbican was specifically built with the dual purpose of holding conferences and arts events presenting a diverse range of art, music, theatre, dance, film and creative learning.

The Frobisher event spaces boast contemporary designs, with a clean and modern look. Across a series of different spaces, it is capable of hosting up to 750 attendees across the whole of the Barbican’s 4th floor conference suite.

The refurbishment work includes recarpeting throughout the whole of the Frobisher suite, using a Milliken carpet, which is carbon neutral and made from recycled yarns and materials.  In addition to its sustainable credentials, the new carpet will also greatly improve acoustics throughout.

All the rooms have seen significant investment in state-of-the-art AV equipment.  This includes new HD projectors, which will provide greater image clarity with vivid brightness and clear contrast.  The new projectors also benefit from ultra-low noise operation, whilst being more sustainable thanks to low power consumption and eco filters.

Rounding off the works and adding significantly to the Barbican’s sustainability credentials are upgrades to the lighting and LEDs as well as the heating system throughout the Frobisher suite.  In particular, an air source heat pump will replace inefficient electric fan and storage heaters that have been used historically. The changes will provide year-round comfort for delegates.

Speaking on the refurbishment, Head of Event Management at the Barbican, Lee Dobson, said: “A new carpet and heating systems are not necessarily the most high-profile refurbishment work but represent significant investment and are vital to the Barbican’s ability to maintain its place as a leader in sustainable conferencing.  This work, alongside the AV upgrades ensure the spaces are not just comfortable but also industry leading, making them perfect for the thousands of attendees that make use of the Barbican’s conference facilities each month.”