Step inside V&A East Museum, a new London cultural hub combining brains and beauty
Designed by O'Donnell+Tuomey in Stratford, the V&A East Museum is ready to show off its sculptural volumes as it gears up for its public opening on 18 April 2026
The opening of the V&A East Museum marks an important moment for London's much-loved Victoria & Albert Museum. When the new venue throws open its doors to the public on Saturday 18 April 2026, the popular cultural and design destination will have completed its East London presence with two hubs of creativity and culture, the other being the V&A East Storehouse (opened 31 May 2025).
Located near each other in Stratford's East Bank, in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, they share an important mission: to bring culture and design to the fore, and welcome everyone to engage with their displays and explore the V&A's rich collection. And if Storehouse is a celebration of the notion of archive – albeit, as we discovered at its opening last year, not as we know it – the brand-new V&A East Museum is all about the process of making, inviting both locals and young people in, and generously opening up to the city beyond the museum's immediate site. Says Jayden Ali, head of JA Projects, who worked with creative studio A Practice for Everyday Life and artist Larry Achiampong on the space's permanent ‘Why We Make' galleries: ‘We want 16- to 24-year-olds to feel comfortable walking in and spending time here.'
Explore V&A East Museum, London's shiny new cultural destination
The new building is certainly eye-catching – an elegant and dynamic form, featuring patterns, a geometric, faceted façade and a permeable ground level with different points of entry. Designed by Dublin-based practice O’Donnell + Tuomey, the architecture stands its ground in an impressive waterside line-up, including Sadler’s Wells Theatre, the BBC Music Studios, and a 2025 Stirling Prize nominee, the London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison.
The unusual shape is not random. It came out of an idea born during an exhibition about Balenciaga, which took place in 2017-18 at the V&A in South Kensington. One of the items on show was an X-ray of a silk taffeta dress and its interpretation by artist Nick Veasey. ‘I began to think about the space between the figure and the form, what it is and what it can be,’ Tuomey told us when we previewed the project with a tour of the construction site in 2023. ‘They are not visibly connected, but they are very connected, and you move in between the body and the fabric.’
V&A East Museum was designed as 'a place for people to meet, find ideas and encounter making in all its forms', the architects write in their statement at the opening – and their concept, centred on 'the space in between', the Japanese concept of 'Ma', draws on this. Its ground floors (one entrance is on a lower level than the other, but both open to communal areas with no barriers or ticketing booths) are free and porous, crafted to invite the city and its people in, rather than control who enters, as traditionally has been the case in many organisations of its kind.
The flowing, accessible ground levels feature retail and a café, slowly morphing into a dramatic circulation route and a generous, winding staircase that takes visitors all the way up to the galleries – two permanent and a 900 sq m temporary one, as well as offices, education spaces and a multifunctional event area at the top. All displays are conceived to put an emphasis on 'making' and the process of craft and creation.
The building itself is a work of craft, featuring a façade made from 479 sand-coloured precast concrete panels. They are all different and cut bespoke to fit a large, three-dimensional surface puzzle. Their patterns reference the V&A’s distinctive logo, which also has pride of place over the entrance and the very top of the structure.
Three public terraces are carved out of the façade, not only adding to the formal composition but also providing additional al fresco space for activities within, as well as ensuring light comes into the interior as needed (although the main exhibition spaces are placed at the building's core, so they can be protected from sunlight if the exhibits require it).
The exhibition areas launch with two permanent 'Why We Make' galleries, composed as a fresh exploration of the V&A archives; and the largest-ever exhibition on Black British music and its impact in the UK, 'The Music is Black: A British Story'. The artistic programme aims to be timely and topical, investigating topics that will speak to a broad range of audiences. Elsewhere, special commissions and displays have been co-produced with local artists and young East Londoners – this and the new museum's expansive live events programme work towards the same goal, emphasising how youth and people help shape global culture right now.
'V&A East Museum’s Why We Make galleries offer a new way in to experiencing the V&A’s collection. Topical and resonant, the galleries look at objects through a contemporary lens and explore themes and issues that matter to our audiences most,' says Zofia Trafas White, senior curator at V&A East.
The museum promises to be dedicated to all people, addressing key issues of our times, from representation, identity and wellbeing to social justice and environmental action – all we have to do is visit.
V&A East Museum opens on 18 April 2026 in London, UK
