V&A East Storehouse will offer behind-the-scenes access to over half a million creative works, with a second site, V&A East Museum, scheduled to open in spring 2026.
Opening on 31st May 2025, V&A East Storehouse is set to showcase a real mix of exhibits and features, ranging from the Glastonbury Festival archive to Elton John’s costumes, vintage football shirts, high-end fashion from Dior to Balenciaga, Roman paintings, samurai swords, furniture and the iPhone.
The working store and free visitor attraction will open to the public as part of East Bank, the new cultural quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The new site will have opportunities to watch and listen to the day-to-day activity of a working museum store, varying from conservation work to new acquisitions arriving for processing and objects being packaged up to go in and out on loan.
Over 100 small displays, exploring topics including fashion, social change and technology, will be open to explore during visits and ‘hacked end’ displays will be built into the end of storage systems, removing glass cases to get visitors closer to collections.
Additionally, there will be a programme of live events, creative workshops and activities across two creative studios and two workshop spaces.
Tim Reeve, deputy director and COO of the V&A, and chair of the East Bank Board, said: “The opening of V&A East Storehouse next May delivers on our ambition to create a new standard for access to national collections, in an area of London with such a rich creative heritage and vibrant and talented creative community. As a key part of East Bank and the London 2012 Olympic legacy, V&A East resonates powerfully with our original mission to inspire creativity and support the creative industries.
“Through V&A East Storehouse, visitors will be encouraged to immerse themselves in the magical behind-the-scenes world of museums and empowered to make their own journeys through the V&A’s global collections. Our world-first Order an Object experience opens up the V&A’s collections to everyone on their own terms, and on a scale never possible before. We hope this will shift the dial in creating more transparent and personalised experiences, and for everyone to find their own inspiration in V&A East Storehouse.”
V&A East Storehouse is the first of V&A East’s two new sites to open. The second, V&A East Museum, is scheduled to open in spring 2026.
V&A East Storehouse will open to the public on 31st May 2025.
For more information about it visit www.vam.ac.uk/east.
