Filming and Photography at the Barbican Centre

Located in the City of London, the Barbican is a unique and audacious building, recognised globally as an architectural icon. The striking brutalist design of the Centre has provided a dramatic backdrop for film, television, music video and photography shoots since its opening in 1982.

The Barbican Centre has a number of distinct filming locations; both interior, from the lush Conservatory to the vast Barbican Hall, and exterior, with our iconic brutalist architecture and London skyline views.

The variety of spaces available at the Barbican have been used for major film productions including Star Wars and James Bond, fashion shoots for Vivienne Westwood and Roksanda, and music videos by Dua Lipa and Harry Styles to name but a few.

Commercial / large-scale filming and photography

If your request is for a commercial shoot and/or is a large-scale shoot, please contact the Barbican’s Business Events team, and you can read more about the filming and photography space hire services provided here

Press / media filming and photography

If your request is for an editorial shoot about the Barbican Centre, please contact the Barbican’s Communications team by completing a request form and sending it to [email protected]

For performance or programming specific filming and photography enquiries, including taking pictures during a concert, please contact our Communications team.

Student / small-scale filming & photography

If your request is for a student or small-scale shoot, we have the following guidelines to help with this. Small-scale filming and photography in the open public spaces of the Barbican Centre (not including the Conservatory) can take place as long as:

- There is no more equipment than just a camera and tripod
- There is no more than 5 people in total
- There are no loud musical instruments or amplified music playback (due to the proximity of residential flats)
- Members of the public will not be prominently included in shot

Barbican Estate filming and photography

Please also be aware that we only look after filming and photography permissions for the interiors of the Barbican Centre and the Lakeside Terrace and Sculpture Court exterior areas of the Barbican Centre. If you would also like to film around the wider residential Barbican Estate, please contact the City of London Film Office.

(Top video by Dion Barrett)

Spaces at the Barbican Centre include...

Barbican Conservatory

A hidden tropical oasis in the centre of London, where extraordinary plant life grows alongside soaring concrete towers underneath a vast glasshouse roof

Sculpture Court

The dramatic outdoor setting of the Sculpture Court is framed by curving concrete walkways and overlooked by the iconic forms of the Barbican’s residential towers