The City of London Corporation has approved £25m in funding for the first phase of the Barbican Centre’s Renewal Programme.
The centre said that the money will be used to develop “a long-term masterplan, undertake further consultation and deliver early systems and infrastructure work” to boost the leading arts centre’s operational and environmental performance over the next two years.
The Renewal Programme comes after the City Corporation, which is the UK’s fourth largest funder of heritage and cultural activites and invests over £130m per year, launched its Destination City programme to build a seven-day-a-week leisure destination for UK and international visitors, workers and residents. It is hoped that the programme will transform the centre’s underused spaces within the centre for new creative use, while also improving existing venues and public spaces.
Since last year’s appointment of an award-winning design team, led by Allies and Morrison, Asif Khan Studio and Buro Happold, the Barbican Renewal Programme team has been consulting to understand what audiences, artists, the local community and the wider public want from the scheme.
In addition to the £25m, the Barbican will be seeking a range of extra funding sources for the programme’s subsequent phases.