Access

There are lots of access needs to consider and we are continually working on this. If you have a suggestion for how we can improve your visit please let us know at [email protected].

For assistance during your visit, please head to our Welcome Desk, or for advance enquiries please phone on 01752 304774 or email [email protected]. During busy periods our team may be helping visitors on site, but we will respond to your enquiry as soon as we can.

Please let us know of any access requirements when booking events or activities with us so that we can best accommodate your needs.

Visiting The Box

The Box is open 6 days a week from 10am–5pm. It is closed on Mondays but open on selected Bank Holidays. From time to time we may have to close galleries or limit access due to maintenance or private hire events.

The Box has free entry all year round. Charges are made for some of our activities, events, reproductions of images or moving image material which helps us to support our future work.

Getting here

The Box is easy to find with plenty of signposting both in and around Plymouth. Further information about travelling to The Box is on our Getting here page.

Entrance and Exit

Step free access to The Box is available at the main entrance on Tavistock Place. There are two wheelchairs and a motorised scooter are available to borrow for free on request. These are available from our Welcome Desk and can also be reserved in advance of your visit by e-mailing [email protected].

Visit Plan Your Visit to find out about our current entrances and exits.

For visitors with babies and young children

• Visit our Family facilities page for more information

For visitors with physical disabilities or mobility issues

• Two lifts provide access for regular and flatbed wheelchairs between floors and across the gallery spaces
• We have wheelchair accessible and disabled toilets
• A Changing Places toilet is accessible with a radar key
• Check our map on the Plan Your Visit page to find our accessible lifts and toilets
• Some seating is available in our galleries and foldable stools can be borrowed from our Welcome Desk.
• Two wheelchairs and a motorised scooter are available to borrow for free on request. These are available from the main desk in the South Hall and can also be reserved in advance of your visit by e-mailing [email protected].
• Mobility scooters should be used with care, especially in busy areas. They must be used on the slowest possible setting to ensure that walking pace is not exceeded. They should be turned off at any time the user is not seated on the scooter.

For visitors with hearing loss and deafness

• Audio loops are installed in the Simmons learning room, Cottonian Research Room and at our welcome desk.
• Projections and moving image displays in our galleries have subtitles.

For visitors who are blind or partially sighted

• Guide and assistance dogs are welcome in our building
• Please let our Welcome Desk know if a guide or assistance dog is accompanying you
• Large print label booklets are provided within each of our temporary exhibitions
• Support can be given to people with vision impairment to get closer to the collections in our Cottonian Research Room. Please contact 01752 308880 or [email protected].
• Handling collections can be specially requested to help people with sensory impairments get closer to our objects as part of their visit. Please contact us for information.

For visitors with epilepsy

We want all our visitors to have a great time at The Box. With so much to see and do, you may find the following information helpful in planning your visit.

Our Port of Plymouth and Media Lab galleries are spaces with low light levels and large screen projections which may not be safe for some people with epilepsy. If you have any concerns before entering either of these spaces, please don't hesitate to speak to a member of staff.

For neurodivergent visitors

One of the first things visitors encounter when they arrive at The Box is our friendly team stationed at our Welcome Desk. They are on hand to provide you with advice and information so you can tailor your visit to suit your needs and interests. To get to our galleries you will pass under our large figureheads which are suspended from the ceiling, moving past the Kitchen & Bar and through our shop. The Kitchen & Bar can be busy and noisy at peak times. If you prefer a quieter experience you could choose to visit early in the morning or later in the afternoon.

We have lots of galleries for you to explore. Some of our permanent galleries will appear similar each time you visit (although do look closely – we often change the collections on display for conservation reasons!) Other spaces could look very different each time. Our changing programme may mean you encounter a large piece of contemporary art in our North Hall or in the spaces between our galleries.

Our main entrance area and Active Archives gallery are large spaces with lots of natural light.

Some of our galleries are darker. They include:

• Port of Plymouth
• 100 Journeys
• Mammoth
• Media Lab

You’ll also find that we’ve used lots of film in many of these spaces to help bring our stories to life.

Images by Andrew Meredith, courtesy of Event Communications.