Outernet and Free Digital Art at Tottenham Court Road

Published 28 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

Outernet is a free, unticketed set of public rooms next to Tottenham Court Road station whose walls and ceilings are floor-to-ceiling LED screens. The largest of them, The Now Building, stands four storeys high, opens from 10am until late every day, and you can walk in off Charing Cross Road without booking anything.

It is not a gallery and not a museum. It is an advertising and entertainment district that pays for itself with brand campaigns, and between those campaigns it shows commissioned digital art on some of the highest-resolution screens in Europe. Because it costs nothing and needs no plan, it is the easiest ten minutes of spectacle in central London.

Underneath it, and separately ticketed, is a 2,000-capacity music venue. That part of the district has changed its name recently, which matters if you are looking for a gig.

Which rooms are free, and which are not

Outernet describes itself as a district rather than a venue, and that distinction decides what you pay. Three spaces hold the giant screens and all three are free, with no booking:

• The Now Building. The big one, four storeys high, with wrap-around screens on the walls and overhead and interactive capability built in. This is the room people mean when they talk about Outernet.
• Now Trending. Next door and much smaller, with directional sound and the ability to release scent into the room. It is used more often for brand launches and product sampling than for art.
• Now Arcade. An LED tunnel that runs through the district and connects towards the Elizabeth line, showing shorter content and augmented-reality pieces that open on a phone.

Outside, the Now Vista screens face Tottenham Court Road and Charing Cross Road, so you get a version of the show without going in at all. Everything else in the district, including the music venues, the hotel and the restaurants, is a separate business with its own prices and its own hours.

What was on the screens in September 2026

The programme rotates and nothing here is permanent, which is the honest thing to say about a place whose screens are also sold to advertisers. When we checked in September 2026 the free schedule included an augmented-reality piece that puts a digital butterfly in the palm of your hand, running daily between 1pm and 2pm; a work about colour and emotion by the studio Pixel Artworks; a large commission by the digital artist Agustín Vidal Saavedra; a piece about interconnected ecosystems; an interactive musical work called Enchanted Forest: The Melody of Spirits; and a treatment of London rain that turns drizzle into sheets of colour. There was also a branded football game in which your phone becomes the controller and scores go on a live leaderboard.

Only the butterfly piece had a fixed daily hour. Everything else runs to an on-screen schedule published on the venue's own site and app, and the sensible approach is to look that up on the morning you go rather than arrive hoping.

The catch: advertisers own this space too

An advertiser can take over the screens for a period, and Outernet calls that an activation. When one is running you may find promotional staff, a product demonstration and a single brand on every wall instead of the art. The screens are also closed occasionally for private events, when nobody gets in.

This is not a criticism so much as a description of the business model, and it explains why two visitors can describe Outernet completely differently. It is also why we would not build an afternoon around it. Treat it as a free ten minutes you pass through on the way to something else, and if the content happens to be good, stay half an hour.

Dogs are allowed in the public areas most of the time, though an advertiser running an activation can in principle exclude them from the space nearest the screens, and the venues inside the district admit assistance dogs only.

Outernet Live: the venue underneath, and its new name

Below the screens is a 2,000-capacity music and events venue. It opened as HERE at Outernet and the operator's own pages now call it Outernet Live, while its ticketing listings and parts of its own website still use the old name. If you are searching for a gig, try both.

It is unseated, with step-free access throughout and lifts between the ground floor, the mezzanine and the basement. Accessible toilets are at the back left as you face the stage on both the mezzanine and the basement floor, and there is a lowered section of bar on the mezzanine's left-hand side. For music events the venue sells a limited-capacity accessible viewing area ticket that includes a standing place for a companion, essential companion tickets that admit two people on one ticket, and queue jump for anyone who needs it, all arranged by e-mail with the venue in advance rather than through the ticket site.

The district's other stage is The Lower Third on Denmark Street, a 250-capacity bar and grassroots venue. Denmark Street itself is the reason the area matters musically at all: the Rolling Stones recorded their first album there, the Sex Pistols lived above a shop on it, and the music shops are still trading. Our guide to live music venues in London covers how the rooms of this size compare, and free music in London lists the gigs that cost nothing.

Getting there, and the Elizabeth line trick

Tottenham Court Road station sits at the corner of the district, at the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, next to Centre Point. The Central, Northern and Elizabeth lines all stop there. The Now Arcade tunnel connects the district towards the Elizabeth line concourse, which means you can walk through part of Outernet on your way out of the station without going above ground.

That is worth knowing if the weather is bad: it is one of the few pieces of free entertainment in the West End you can reach without stepping outside. Our guide to step-free transport in London covers the lifts at Tottenham Court Road, which are among the better ones in Zone 1.

Buses 8, 14, 19, 24, 29, 38, 55, 73, 98 and 188 all stop at Tottenham Court Road.

What else is within ten minutes

Outernet is two minutes from the eastern end of Oxford Street and five from Soho. Leicester Square and Theatreland are eight minutes south down Charing Cross Road, which makes this a natural stop before a show; our West End theatre guide explains how to get seats on the day.

For anyone assembling a free afternoon, the closest comparison is the legal graffiti tunnel at Leake Street under Waterloo, which is also free, also loud and considerably grubbier. Our list of free things to do in London has the rest.

And the paid comparison is worth making plainly, because visitors ask. Frameless at Marble Arch charges from £29.50 an adult for two hours of projected paintings in four dark rooms. Outernet gives you a fraction of that, for nothing, in ten minutes. If you are deciding whether immersive projection is your sort of thing at all, come here first and let the free version make the argument.

Teenagers take to it more readily than small children, who tend to find the volume and the dark corners of the Now Arcade unsettling; our guides to London with teenagers and wet-day ideas for children divide the options by age.

Frequently asked questions

Is Outernet London free?

The screens are. The Now Building, Now Trending and Now Arcade need no ticket and no booking, and every on-screen show in them is free. The music venues in the district, including Outernet Live and The Lower Third, are ticketed separately, as are the restaurants, bars and hotel.

What are Outernet's opening hours?

The free screen spaces run from 10am until late every day, but the exact hours change weekly and are published on the venue's own website, on its Instagram and X accounts and in its app. The other businesses in the district keep their own hours.

Where is Outernet in London?

At the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, next to Centre Point and immediately beside Tottenham Court Road station. The district runs south down Charing Cross Road and includes Denmark Street.

How long do you need at Outernet?

Ten minutes is enough to see The Now Building and decide whether you want more. Half an hour covers all three screen spaces and one full show. It does not fill an afternoon, and we would not travel across London for it alone.

Is Here at Outernet the same as Outernet Live?

Yes. The 2,000-capacity underground venue opened as HERE at Outernet and the operator now calls it Outernet Live on its main pages, while some of its own listings still carry the old name. Search both if you are looking for tickets to a show there.

Sources

• Outernet London - what is on screen and the district's spaces (checked September 2026)
• Outernet London - frequently asked questions, including what is free (checked September 2026)
• Outernet London - accessibility at Outernet Live (checked September 2026)
• Outernet London - location and bus routes (checked September 2026)
• Outernet London - Denmark Street and The Lower Third (checked September 2026)