Update: the next Conservatory Plant Adoption event will take place on Sunday, September 13, and tickets will go on sale at midday on Wednesday, August 19 exclusively on the Open House website. You will need to create an account with Open House to book.
Ahead of a major restoration of the Barbican Conservatory beginning in January 2027, London-based landscape and architecture studio Wayward Plants is taking thousands of cuttings from a vast array of specimens, and propagating them into new plants for members and the public to adopt for free.
The first conservatory plant adoption event takes place on August 19 and is already sold out, but there are more public sessions scheduled over the following months on September 13 and December 2, plus a Young Barbican members event on November 29.
Tickets for the further events, which entitle the booker to one plant, are yet to be released. Forty are set to be available for each of the 12 different 20-minute sessions on each day.
During the adoption process, visitors can learn about the plants and how to care for them, as well as seeing the original host plants which their cuttings were taken from.
The giveaway comes ahead of restoration work that will see every plant removed so the Conservatory can be re-waterproofed, re-glazed and re-landscaped. Some plants will be stored and later replanted, while others will be donated to organisations and community projects.
Due to reopen in 2030, the renewed conservatory is planned to be more sustainable and accessible, with redesigned pathways and ramps, as well as a new lift and staircase to the upper balconies for better viewing.
The Conservatory’s closure is part of a wider Barbican Renewal Programme, which will see £191 million invested into the creative and performance spaces of the Brutalist landmark to restore and protect the building. It’s set to close for a year from June 2028, and reopen ahead for its 50th anniversary in 2032.
