V&A East Storehouse to open to the public as a living archive and public treasure
On Saturday 31 May 2025, the V&A East Storehouse officially opens its doors, offering a revolutionary new museum experience in the heart of East London. Located within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s East Bank cultural district, this unique facility is not just a store but a fully immersive public space. The Storehouse invites visitors into the heart of the museum’s operations, giving them unprecedented access to more than half a million objects from the national collection. The opening marks the culmination of ten years of planning, consultation, and visionary design.
View of the Weston Collections Hall at V&A East Storehouse. Image by David Parry, PA Media Assignments.
Conceived by the acclaimed architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the V&A East Storehouse is a purpose-built, 16,000m² facility housed in the former London 2012 Olympics Media and Broadcast Centre. Created in collaboration with the V&A East Youth Collective, the design is rooted in principles of accessibility and transparency. It reimagines how the public can engage with museum collections, offering a radically new model. Visitors are invited to navigate four levels of innovative displays in a self-guided, curiosity-led journey and can even request to see specific items through the interactive “Order an Object” service.
More than a museum, the Storehouse is also a working store. Unlike conventional institutions, which typically showcase only a small portion of their collections, this space brings the behind-the-scenes world of conservation, care, and curation into plain view. Housing over 250,000 objects, 350,000 books, and 1,000 archives, it serves as both a public treasure trove and a dynamic research environment. Standout exhibits — from Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office to Picasso’s vast stage cloth for Le Train Bleu — sit alongside fashion, performance artefacts, and design icons.
The 1924 front stage cloth for the Ballets Russes’ production, Le Train Bleu, designed by Pablo Picasso at V&A East Storehouse. Image by David Parry, PA Media Assignments.
Tim Reeve, Deputy Director and COO of the V&A, describes the Storehouse as “a backstage pass to the V&A” that breaks down barriers between public and institution. Crucially, entry to the V&A East Storehouse is completely free. This decision, backed by the Mayor of London and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, underlines a commitment to cultural access for all. Whether one is there to view a 15th-century Spanish ceiling, browse avant-garde fashion by Balenciaga and Westwood, or simply roam through a “Cabinet of Curiosities,” the Storehouse invites everyone to explore, learn and be inspired – not behind velvet ropes, but right at the heart of it all.
Location: V&A East Storehouse, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E20 3BS. vam.ac.uk.
