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V&A East Storehouse opened its doors to the public

On the 31st of May 2025, the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Archive located within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, United Kingdom, called the V&A East Storehouse opened its doors to the public. As an institution dedicated to preserving the V&A museum’s records, this division was established in 1992 with the intention to make the records publicly accessible; the V&A East Storehouse still performs the same function. The records date back to 1837, spanning creative collections such as art, architecture, product design, fashion, performance and the history of the Museum. The recent opening in May 2025 was an anticipated opening because it provides unprecedented access to V&A’s archive and marks the largest collections move in the V&A’s history.

With a footprint of approx. 160,000 sq ft or equivalent to approx. 30 basketball courts, the V&A East Storehouse is designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, a New York-based architects, and was supported by executive architect Austin-Smith:Lord based in Bristol, UK. The New York-based practice and the Bristol-based practice jointly submitted their entry to transform the former media and broadcast center to the storehouse within the Here East complex, and won the architectural competition in May 2018.

With over 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books, and 1,000 archival items, the V&A East Storehouse is a storage as well as a live conservation and research centre. On the day of my visit, the queue was long but moved along efficiently. After approx. 45 minutes wait, visitors were greeted in small groups to set out the expectations that it is a working archive; no food and drinks are allowed and all bags are to be stored within the hundred, if not, thousands of lockers located by the storehouse’s main entrance. It is after this check-in process that one is invited to ascend up a set of stairs to gain the first glimpse of the archive. The entrance to the archive is free for all.

Along the perimeter of the four story high atrium space, there are various double height spaces where one is invited to the behind-the-scenes of a world leading museum; one can overlook live and working archivists at work as seen from the image above. These Conservation Overlook areas were my favourite moments in this living and working archival space. There were archivists examining garments, and one can stand far enough over the balcony to observe without being obtrusive. I wonder what the archivists' experiences are though, as they are constantly being observed by visitors. Rarely have I truly experienced this openness and transparency; the other publicly accessible place that I have experienced it is during a visit to the United Nations (UN) Office at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; the UN supports peace, rights and wellbeing. A democratic space that conveys the message that an organisation, such as the long established Victoria and Albert Museum is unbarred and that the knowledge that they hold can be shared through a request to the storehouse.

Through the Order and Object system, one can also book a free appointment to request any items from the archive to study. It is recommended that one requests an item two weeks ahead of their visit.

One key difference between the V&A East Storehouse and a typical museum is that visitors can get up close to the objects within the storehouse. For example, one of the large objects being displayed is the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed office space in 1930s for the Kaufmann family, and visitors can step foot inside it within short barriers. It is the only complete one of its kind from Frank Lloyd Wright being permanently displayed outside the United States of America. With items that do not require air or temperature controlled environments, such as furniture, one can really go close up and see the details. Another notable difference is that there are few labels signposting the collection but rather QR codes are available to scan if you are interested to find out the details of particular items. A V&A East Storehouse staff are also usually within sight for general questions and answers.

On top of the V&A East Storehouse, as part of the Mayor of London’s £1.1 billion Olympic legacy project to create a new arts, innovation and education hub in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, there will also be the V&A East Museum due to open in Spring 2026. In the meantime, to visit the V&A East Storehouse, please find details on this website.