The Barbican in London

[zimma]

Anyone lived there?

We have seen a gorgeous flat to rent there and think we’d love it. Would rent before buying.

It's lovely but quite restrictive- no pets etc. Residents are rich older culture vulture types- the shitting neighbour definitely isn't typical. There is a real community and people tend to expect everyone to keep up standards which is either heaven or hell depending on the sort of person you are.

Check the contract re service charge. I wouldn't assume that this will be paid by the LL given that it covers things like heating. It's expensive.

I too went on an architectural tour there once.

I was amazed to find out there is a huge underground carpark for residents. More than one space per flat was built. The tour guide described this as ahead of its time.

I think it looks an awful place!

Two million for a glorified tower block.

That's me, however.

If you like it, go for it.

I used to dream of retiring there.

Then I read that no pets were allowed, after wandering around and noticing there weren't any cats.

Dream immediately scrapped.

I've heard that on top of service charge you can also get hit up for larger works needed, e.g. apparently when lifts needed replacing each owner had to pay £100k so some people had to sell up.

I have a Rightmove Alert set up for it, I love imagining what my child-free, pet-free, debt-free imaginary much cooler self would do while living there.

I love the Brunswick centre. It's everything the Barbican isn't. They may both be modernist, brutalist but Brunswick feels and looks welcoming and accessible. It's not style over sense. Shame the cinema closed though. I'd still love to live there, though. Spitting distance from British museum and library. Bliss.

The Curzon at Brunswick is open. Very nice.

have you seen this site? Has floor plans of all the different types, original advertising material, story of how it came about...what to do when you live there about services, replacement stuff etc.
https://www.barbicanliving.co.uk/

And this is a good one...
https://barbicanlife.com/

As you can tell, I have long loved the Barbican. Aside from the boyfriend who lived in Shakespeare tower, we once visited my french teacher's friend who also lived in one of the towers. We'd gone on a school outing to see a production in the theatre and four of us dropped in on this woman after the show. We all lived in London council flats anyway so this was like going into the fanciest council flat ever for us - it was in a tower but no idea which one. She had the coolest sixties furniture too: a table and chairs that I later knew to be Saarinen ...that would have been when it really wasn't cool to have that style. I have been quite obsessed by the place (and mid century furniture) ever since. It's a shame that you have to be pretty wealthy to live there now as it wasn't designed to be that way originally.

Yes, we had been looking at flats to buy in the Barbican and were put off by the high service charges and no sinking fund, so any works planned are billed extra to leaseholders.

As much as I love the Barbican, it's overall too expensive for us.

I love the Barbican and have considered living there but with the service charges, wind and no pet rule, I fear the dream could be a nightmare.

I quite like St George’s Fields in Marble Arch by Hyde Park. It’s a brutalist ziggurat block set in gorgeous communal gardens hidden off Bayswater Road. The flats have huge private terraces. A lot cheaper than the Barbican but way more central. The architecture might not be on the same league but the gardens are like a little hidden oasis.

Does anyone else remember in 90s -00s when one of the maisonettes on the corner of Brunswick House was painted white and had mock Tudor beams? 😂

I've lived here for 25 years. Came as a student and never left. It's the most incredible place to live and very child friendly. It's an urban myth that you can't refurbish the interiors - I've done several renovations over the years and bought and sold a few flats here. The windows give incredible light, the vista's stop you from feeling overlooked, the private gardens and lakes are so tranquil. Walls are solid so rarely hear neighbours. The demographic is really mixed, we've got all sorts here and it's very friendly on the whole. Good supermarkets on the doorstep, 24/7 Concierge. The Thames is a 10 min walk away. You can walk into Soho in 30 mins and all the major the transport links are all within a few minutes walk or a couple of stops on the tube. It feels very safe and secure, the services are good - you'd likely spend the same amount of money on the upkeep of a top-notch mid century/Georgian house of a similar size as we do on Service Charges and it's all taken care of by somebody else. Great restaurants too and with the Tate Modern a 15 min walk away and the new Museum of London at Smithfield not long in the making it's fantastic for culture too. I'm a single mum so it's been a blessing living here from a safety perspective too. It's a very difficult place to leave!

I've lived here since 2003 and love it. I hate it too but love it usually. What I hate is the lack of space, plane/helicopter noise now and again and lack of being able to control our own heating - apart from that it's bliss.