Overview

UPDATE ON 15 January 2024. I went to BFI yesterday and the platform lift is working again. The BFI website has not been updated, so I asked staff if they can arrange for that to happen. Had a great visit yesterday as always. I wrote earlier: I am writing this review on 17 December 2023, to let disabled people that the lift from street to the main foyer is out of order. I have emailed BFI about this and got a very prompt reply back by the first working day, see additional information below. I visited 2 weeks ago and it was then when I arrived I realised that the main entrance platform lift is not working. Despite the lifts not working the entire building is still step free accessible. I have written a review for the BFI previously, see that for an overview. It is a place I visit regularly as I am a member and enjoy going there as it is very accessible and the staff are lovely.

Transport & Parking

The nearest railway and tube station is Waterloo. However, not all tube lines are step free. I travelled by bus southbound to Waterloo Bridge and then walked down the slope and the BFI was directly in front of me.

Access

Although the main entrance lift is currently out of order the building still has full step-free access. The platform lift at the main entrance, which also has stairs with handrails to the box office, cafe, shop and other facilities is out of order. At time of writing, it is only when you go through the double entrance doors and arrive at the foot of the stairs, that you will see a sign on the platform lift saying it is out of order. The sign also gives instructions of how to gain step free admission. It says: Lift out of order. To gain access to the main foyer, NF2 AND NF3 please take the next side entrance to the left. At the entrance you will need to ring a bell and a member of staff will come to assist. To access NFT1 please use the Riverfront entrance towards the front of the building. By following this I was able to gain step free access to the BFI. When I buzzed the door was answered quickly.

Toilets

The building has a few accessible toilets. I used the one next to NFT1. It is large, clean and well maintained. There are grab rails and emergency cord.

Staff

Staff were amazingly helpful and huge thanks to Joycelyn, at the box office, and Chandan, manager. Appreciated their professionalism, that they listened and assisted. I went to the box office and spoke to Joycelyn and asked to speak to the duty manager. She asked what it was in connection with and when I said disabled access, she immediately called him. Within a couple of minutes Chandan arrived. I explained to him that I had been to the BFI 2 weeks earlier and the lift was out of order then and within that time the BFI website had not been updated to inform visitors of this. He took my details and said he would raise it. I also asked who I needed to write to about it and he gave me the personal work email address of a member of staff and customer feedback email address. He then accompanied me back to the exit and ensured I knew where to go to get to NFT1.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Please remember while the lift is out of order due to the layout of the building, it is still possible to have step free access to all parts of the building. UPDATE: I had a very prompt, positive and detailed reply from Martin Laws, Head of Commercial & Customer Development at the BFI on the Monday 18/12/203. He checked all the lifts in the building on 18/12/2023 and all are working except for the lift from street to main foyer. Engineers were on site all day on Saturday 9th December looking at this lift and trying to correct the fault. Regrettably they don't have a date when it will be fixed but it is a priority. He is going to speak with the venue team about where they place the signage so visitors don’t need to enter the building to find out the information. The information about the broken lift is already on their website on the access page. I did not notice it when I checked on Saturday as it is about half way down the page under Getting around BFI Southbank. He is going to speak to their webteam about making this information more prominent. One of BFI's key priorities next year will be to look at a full replacement of the main access lifts across the building as they are becoming obsolete and therefore harder to repair. This will take a bit of time to procure and manage the installation of, but in the long term will mean that we will have fewer issues. I am very happy with Martin's response. This is very typical of the supportive, welcoming and friendly interaction I have from staff when I visit the BFI. Thank you BFI for being so inclusive and for showing wonderful films.

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