V&A East Storehouse in London is the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection storehouse and alternative exhibition space, offering visitors a rare opportunity to see how the collection is stored, conserved, and prepared for display. Located at Here East in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the four-level building holds more than half a million objects, 350,000 books, and 1,000 archives. Conceived as both a warehouse and a place of discovery, the self-guided experience encourages visitors to explore freely, with views into conservation labs, technicians at work, and the processes that usually remain hidden from public view.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, the United Kingdom’s national museum of art, design, and performance, is expanding in East London with V&A East. V&A East Storehouse, which opened on 31 May 2025, is the first of two new sites, with V&A East Museum planned for spring 2026. Conceived by Tim Reeve, the V&A’s Deputy Director and COO, and developed over a decade with public input, including the V&A East Youth Collective, the project transforms part of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Here East into a dynamic new base for the V&A’s collections and public engagement.

V&A East Storehouse was designed by the American interdisciplinary studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro, together with the British architectural firm Austin-Smith:Lord. At its center is the Weston Collections Hall, a tall, multi-level space where adapted storage systems turn the ends and sides of the racking into over one hundred compact displays. Instead of strict categories, the displays are arranged to spark curiosity and invite visitors to choose their own path through the space. 

The building also houses the David and Molly Lowell Borthwick Gallery, a vast exhibition space designed to accommodate monumental stage cloths and textiles. Currently on view is Le Train Bleu, a Ballets Russes stage cloth signed by Pablo Picasso and rarely displayed since its debut in 1924. Measuring approximately 10 meters high and 11 meters wide, it is regarded as the largest work ever created by Picasso.

The Order an Object service offers visitors the opportunity to book an appointment, free of charge, to view specific items from the collection seven days a week. Requests range from Roman frescoes and a 14th-century panel by Simone Martini to Leigh Bowery costumes, Althea McNish textiles, vintage band T-shirts and posters, and avant-garde fashion by designers such as Balenciaga, Schiaparelli, Comme des Garçons, Issey Miyake, and Vivienne Westwood. Since launching on 13 May 2025, the service has already received more than 1,000 requests across over 250 appointments, with Cristóbal Balenciaga’s 1954 pink silk taffeta evening dress emerging as an early favorite. Archival collections and National Art Library materials stored on site are also available by appointment.

The public program adds further layers to the visit with co-production projects developed with young East Londoners, local communities, and creatives, bringing new voices and perspectives into the museum through recorded stories, films, publications, and artworks. These initiatives underline the Storehouse’s role within East Bank, the UK’s newest cultural quarter in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. East Bank brings together BBC Music Studios, London College of Fashion (UAL), Sadler’s Wells East, UCL East, and V&A East Museum & Storehouse, creating a shared space for culture, learning, and innovation that reflects the diversity and creative energy of East London.