Accessibility

The Linnean Society is located in Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BF. The building is open to the public on Tuesday to Friday, 10.00–17.00, unless otherwise communicated. We advise you look at our website before you travel.

The Linnean Society is committed to making its premises, collections and events as accessible as possible. We recognise that our visitors have different needs and that these needs may change on a daily basis. Our staff are here to support you. If there are any adjustments we can make ahead of your visit—or you have any questions about access—please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Similarly, if there are any ways in which you think we can improve, please do let us know. Your feedback is important to us.

Our closest tube stops are Green Park and Piccadilly Circus. Green Park Tube station provides step-free access. (For the TfL Step-free Tube Guide follow this link.)

Our closest bus stop is Old Bond Street / Royal Academy which is frequented by buses 9, 14, 19, 23 and 38.

Limited parking is available in Burlington Courtyard for public visitors on request. Please note that the Courtyard is formed of cobble stones, so the floor is uneven.

The Linnean Society is located inside a 19th-century, Grade II* listed building, which presents several challenges regarding physical accessibility.

• There are two small flights of stairs leading to the ground floor entrance from street level. The first consists of four steps and the second consists of three. Staff can provide step-free access in the form of a removable ramp.
• For use of the ramp please phone the office and staff will come out to assist. Alternatively, the security team can assist in pressing the doorbell to call the Society staff—they can be found under the Burlington House archway and are identifiable by their lanyard badge.
• Inside the building, a lift provides step-free access to the Basement, Ground, First and Second Floors. We regret there is no step-free access to the Third Floor.
• The dimensions of our lift are 143 cm in depth and 108 cm in width. It is located through a door to the right as you enter our front door. This lift can accommodate any walker/wheelchair/mobility scooter which can fit through a 75 cm door frame.
• The Collections Store, in the basement, has a pronounced change in floor level, with one large, single step at the entrance.

There is a unisex accessible toilet located in the basement, with step-free access via the lift. It does not require a RADAR key.

You are very welcome to bring your assistance animal to the Linnean Society. We interpret the term ‘assistance animal’ to encompass any animal companion without whose support a visitor would not otherwise be able to visit the Linnean Society.

Assistance animals are welcome throughout our premises, with the exception of the Collections Store and the Smith Herbarium. These spaces contain highly sensitive biological material, and the presence of animals cannot be allowed for biosecurity reasons. If you have an assistance animal and require access to the material in these spaces, please speak to a member of collections staff so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

Owners are expected to take responsibility for their assistance animal throughout their visit. To protect our collections, and for everyone’s comfort and safety, we politely ask that your assistance animal remain under your care and control throughout your visit, ideally remaining on a lead.

Please note, no other animals are permitted in our building.

We have a range of magnifiers and hand lenses available for visitors to our premises, including users of our collections. Please speak to staff.

A hearing loop is fitted in our main Meeting Room on the ground floor. Please speak to staff for further information.

We use Zoom for our online meetings, which provides automatically generated captions/subtitles. Viewers can choose their own settings to use this feature.

Where possible, recordings of our events will include closed captions when they are uploaded to YouTube.