Tropical London

Sunday 20th January 2019

The Barbican Estate in the City of London, Grade II listed fine example of British Brutalist architecture or concrete carbuncle depending on your taste (it's the former obviously) was built in the 1960s and 1980s on an area of Cripplegate Ward levelled by the Luftwaffe in World War II.

Within the estate is the Barbican Centre, Europe's largest performing arts centre. This contains spaces to host classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and the subject of this blog post, a 23,000 square foot  conservatory containing a couple of thousand species of plants and some Koi Carp and terrapins.

The conservatory is open to the public but only on limited occasions - mostly Sunday afternoons and some Bank Holidays. There's no charge to enter though, which is a plus. Opening dates and times are on the Barbican Website. It's not immediately obvious when you get inside the Barbican Centre but the conservatory is on level 3, take the stairs or the lift. 

Inside the conservatory is divided into two main tropical sections plus a smaller arid zone on the upper level. It's an impressive green tangle of plants and trees with narrowish walkways between the beds and fishponds and even an area of tables where you can take Afternoon Tea for a mere £35 a head - including a glass of prosecco. You have to book in advance. I gave afternoon tea a miss and joined the poorer visitors wandering amongst the vegetation.

Tables for Afternoon Tea if you're feeling flush.

Carp pool.

The arid section - cacti and succulents.

Winter colour.

Hot stuff, chilli peppers!

The big fish.

Single bloom.

Big bamboo.

The conservatory is tall enough to accommodate full size trees.

The Barbican Conservatory is a bit of a hidden gem, a little bit of tropical "jungle" in the middle of the city. If you can make it on one of the few open days it's worth visiting - especially if it's January and bloody cold outside as it was on this Sunday.

There are more photos here in this Flickr Album.