V&A East Museum Stratford building design, Victoria & Albert London property photos

15 April 2026

V&A East Museum opens in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Design: O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects, Ireland

Photos © Hufton+Crow

V&A East Museum – Architecture statement:

V&A East Museum Building in Stratford

John Tuomey, Founding Director of O’Donnell + Tuomey, said:
“Since winning the architectural competition in 2015, we have worked with the V&A team to make a new kind of museum, welcoming to a wide audience. V&A East Museum stands on a public square at the heart of East Bank, Stratford’s new cultural and educational district. Making public work with civic purpose is a motivating principle of our practice. V&A East Museum has been a special project in our portfolio. We are delighted to see it open its doors.”

Positioned on Waterfront Square, V&A East Museum is conceived as a place for people to meet, find ideas and encounter making in all its forms. The V&A’s brief for O’Donnell + Tuomey was to design a museum that would be welcoming, distinctive and open to all, particularly young people, east London communities and visitors who may not previously have felt at ease in museum spaces. O’Donnell + Tuomey’s response was to create an open and truly public building at the centre of East Bank that celebrates craft, materiality and making, designed to prompt curiosity and draw people inside while protecting the museum’s objects.

O’Donnell + Tuomey drew inspiration from seeing Cristóbal Balenciaga’s sculptural tailoring in the V&A’s collection, particularly his attention to the space between garment and body, as well as the Japanese concept of “Ma”, or “the space in between”. This informed the idea of a protective outer shell that wraps around a rational internal core. The space between the façade and the structure becomes a sequence of dramatic circulation routes that guide visitors upwards.

The folded facade, crafted in intricate detail, gives strength and identity to the architectural form. The exterior is formed from 479 sand coloured precast concrete panels, each uniquely shaped and scored with profiles that reference the V&A’s distinctive logo. The linework of the panels align to create a unified pattern along the three-dimensional folded façade that catches the changing light over the course of a day, animating the building’s exterior. Benches integrated into the façade at ground and podium level bring people into close contact with the building and extend its threshold into the public realm.

Inside, five public levels contain two permanent galleries, a 900sqm temporary exhibition gallery, a top-floor project and event space, learning facilities and a café. Spaces are aligned vertically and connected by a continuous circulation route carved from the thickness of the external walls. Terrazzo concrete floors reinforce a sense of material continuity with the public area outside the museum. Carefully positioned windows along the circulation routes and three public terraces introduce daylight, views and connection to East Bank and the City. Two entrances at the waterfront and podium levels offer a barrier-free welcome through triangular openings that recall pattern cutting darts. The crafted white interiors provide a calm backdrop for V&A galleries, commissions, live events and temporary exhibitions.

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V&A East Museum Building, London

• Brand new V&A East Museum opens in the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Co-created with young people, creatives, and east Londoners, it celebrates making and creativity’s power to bring change

• First major exhibition The Music is Black: A British Story, reveals how Black British music has shaped British culture over the last 125 years – and its impact around the world

• Exhibition highlights include Stormzy’s iconic 2019 Glastonbury vest designed by Banksy, Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, fashion worn by Seal, Sade + Skin, plus Fabio & Grooverider’s DJ equipment and Grooverider’s first turntable, newly acquired photographs by Eddie Otchere, Jennie Baptiste and Laura ‘Hyperfrank’ Brosnan, and a specially commissioned painting by Sir Frank Bowling

• Two free permanent Why We Make galleries spotlight global culture with a topical lens with over 500 objects from the V&A’s collection

• Highlights include new acquisitions by designer Yinka Ilori, fashion designer Molly Goddard, photographer Jamie Hawkesworth and ceramicist Bisila Noha, alongside a range of objects from Renaissance portraits and historic scent cases to photographs by Maud Sulter and Shadi Ghadirian, a Pussyhat worn on protest marches, Keith Khan’s carnival costumes, ballet costumes by Leigh Bowery, and fashion by Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood

• New artworks by artists including Turner Prize-nominated Rene Matić, Carrie Mae Weems and Tania Bruguera and more revealed as part of V&A East’s inaugural New Work commissions

V&A East Museum London building interior design:

V&A East Museum opens its doors for the first time this Saturday 18 April as part of East Bank, the new cultural quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, supported by the Mayor of London. Co-created with young people, creatives, and those living, working and studying in east London, V&A East Museum celebrates making and creativity’s power to bring change around the world.

Set across a bright, spacious five-storey building designed by architects O’Donnell + Tuomey, V&A East Museum is a showcase of creativity and a celebration of east London, UK and global makers.

Behind its doors – in front of which stands Thomas J Price’s 18ft sculpture, A Place Beyond – V&A East Museum opens its first landmark multisensory exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story – the largest ever exhibition on the impact of Black British music on the UK and around the world. Featuring over 200 objects from the V&A’s collection and important loans, at its heart it celebrates the emergence of eight distinct Black British genres from 2 tone to lovers rock, Brit funk, jungle, drum & bass, trip hop, UK garage and grime.

Tracing 125 years of Black British music, the exhibition brings together hidden stories of early legends and contemporary artists through objects from groundbreaking musician Winifred Atwell’s piano to Stormzy’s iconic 2019 Glastonbury vest designed by Banksy, originally conceived on the back of a napkin. Other highlights include Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, equipment belonging to Fabio & Grooverider, including Grooverider’s first turntable, the Super Nintendo Jme used for his early music experiments, alongside fashion worn by Little Simz, Seal, Dame Shirley Bassey, Sade and Skin. Also on show are artworks revealing the joy, resilience and importance of Black British artistry and the way in which music moves us, by Dame Sonia Boyce, Zak Ové, Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, Denzil Forrester, and specially commissioned new works by Sir Frank Bowling and LR Vandy.

Committed to researching the impact of Black British music both globally and in the UK, the V&A has acquired over 50 photographs from the 1960s to the 2010s to its collection – many on display in the exhibition for the first time. Works include Dennis Morris’s early photographs of Bob Marley, Eddie Otchere’s evocative diptych of drum & bass pioneers DJ Kemistry and DJ Storm, Soulla Petrou’s portrait of UK garage and R&B trio, Mis-Teeq and Laura ‘Hyperfrank’ Brosnan’s print capturing Skepta’s family celebrating his 2016 Mercury Prize win.

BBC Music has partnered with V&A East on The Music Is Black: A British Story, providing access to archival materials, and releasing a season of content across its channels inspired by the exhibition. The exhibition also inspires The Music is Black Festival, a series of programming, displays and performances in collaboration with East Bank partners across Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and beyond in summer 2026.

V&A East Ambassador, Cat Burns, said: “Being part of the first The Music is Black: A British Story exhibition at V&A East Museum is such an exciting moment for me. V&A East Museum’s focus on creativity for change really speaks to how music and culture can inspire, challenge, and create opportunity. I’m looking forward to sharing this space and experience with everyone. It’s about celebrating art, identity, and stories that matter.”

V&A East Museum’s new free permanent Why We Make galleries offer a fresh look at contemporary culture through the V&A’s collections. Designed by JA_Projects in collaboration with A Practice for Everyday Life, Larry Achiampong and the V&A East Youth Collective, the galleries hold over 500 objects from the V&A’s collection spanning art, architecture, design, performance, and fashion. Objects are brought together across different times, cultures and countries, with a design inspired by east London, to address topical issues important to our audiences – from representation, identity and wellbeing to social justice and environmental action.

Photographic works by Claude Cahun, Maud Sulter and Shadi Ghadirian are shown alongside a Renaissance self-portrait of Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola and Molly Goddard’s feminist fashion to uncover how we find our place in the world by visualising ourselves in it. Furniture by Yinka Ilori, fashion by Alexander McQueen, carnival costumes by Keith Khan, ceramics by Bisila Noha and dance by Akram Khan, come together to explore how creatives push their practice to tell powerful personal stories.

Work by trailblazers, including fashion designers Vivienne Westwood, Rei Kawakubo founder of Comme des Garçons, and 18th-century Spitalfields dressmaker Anna Maria Garthwaite, join radical ballet costumes by Leigh Bowery, and fabric prints by Althea McNish, to uncover how each creative broke ground in their industries.

The galleries also showcase a series of co-produced projects created with east Londonbased residents, artists and creatives, drawing on the V&A’s collection, including displays by artist and designer, Sahra Hersi, and Hackney-based photographer, Tom Hunter, created in collaboration with the V&A East Youth Collective.

V&A East Museum also opens with New Work, a new twice yearly rotating programme of creative commissions. The inaugural edition unveils newly commissioned works by Tania Bruguera, Rene Matić, Justinien Tribillon, Carrie Mae Weems, and Laura Wilson, each responding to the theme ‘Making East London’, an exploration of the area’s histories, communities and possible futures. Further New Work commissions by Es Devlin, Lawrence Lek and Shahed Saleem are revealed at V&A East Storehouse, extending the programme across both V&A East sites.

A new temporary display, Dispersal opens, with photographs by Marion Davies and Debra Rapp, who documented the people and workplaces of east London-based labour businesses at threat of closure or relocation due to the development of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Also on show across V&A East Museum are a series of objects from the V&A’s collection by creatives including Ron Arad’s Concrete Stereo (1982), Theaster Gates’s stoneware vessel, Voulkos #1 (2021), made as part of ‘The Question of Clay’ research project when Gates was an Emeritus Fellow at the V&A, and Mawuena Kattah’s Aunty, Mum and Me Talking About My Fabric Collection (2016) tile painting.

V&A East Museum’s opening programme of free live events includes a take-over by DJ Nia Archives, as well as artist-led workshops, conversations and live performances. Visitors can also enjoy Café Jikoni, an exciting partnership with the restaurant group known for ‘cooking across borders’.

Gus Casely-Hayford, V&A East Director, said: “Over 10 years in the making, we’re delighted to open V&A East Museum, a space created with and for our audiences, including young people and east Londoners, in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sister site to V&A East Storehouse, it’s part of East Bank and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy. Everyone is welcome at V&A East Museum. From The Music is Black: A British Story to our Why We Make galleries, New Work commissions and live events and activities, we hope you see yourself, your stories, and experiences represented here.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Eight years ago, I set out a vision to create a new culture and education powerhouse in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and with £640 million investment from City Hall, I’m delighted to see East Bank roaring into life. The opening of V&A East Museum is a major milestone in the growing success of East Bank.

It will play a big part in our capital’s world-leading cultural scene, celebrating creativity, creating opportunities and showing the power the arts can have. The inaugural exhibition, Music is Black: A British Story, fittingly celebrates the role of Black British music and the impact it has had across the globe. Following on from the successful opening of V&A East Storehouse, V&A East Museum is boosting East Bank’s cultural offering even further, helping to build a better London for everyone.”

Supporters

V&A East Museum completes the V&A East project – one of the UK’s biggest new museum projects of the decade – as the sister site to V&A East Storehouse, which opened in May 2025. Both sites are part of the East Bank partnership, rooted in the diverse communities of east London and a reflection of the creative spirit and the legacy of the London 2012 Games – made possible by investment from the Mayor of London.

The Music is Black: A British Story at V&A East Museum is supported by Ford Foundation, with further support from the Huo Family Foundation and GRoW @ Annenberg Foundation. Sound Experience supported by Sennheiser.

Photographs © Hufton+Crow

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V&A East Museum Stratford building images / information from the Victoria & Albert Museum London 140426

Previously on e-architect:

V&A East Storehouse Architecture

12 Aug 2022
V&A East Museum under construction

photo © Victoria and Albert Musuem, London
V&A East Museum Why We Make galleries

Art Galleries

31 May 2023
V&A East Storehouse, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, Borough of Newham, East London, England, UK

image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Image courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum, Londonn
V&A East Storehouse Building, Stratford

23 Feb 2023
David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse
Photograph of David Bowie Performing as The Thin White Duke on the Station to Station tour, 1976:

photograph by John Robert Rowlands © John Robert Rowlands and The David Bowie Archive

David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse

V&A East museum building Stratford

V&A East museum building Stratford

14 Dec 2021

V&A East museum building Stratford

V&A East Museum hits major construction milestone as it tops out in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Design: O’Donnell + Tuomey, Architects, Ireland

Location: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, Borough of Newham, East London, England, UK

V&A East Museum, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, Borough of Newham
Design: O’Donnell + Tuomey, Architects, Ireland

photo © Victoria and Albert Museum
V&A East museum building Stratford

Photos © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, unless stated otherwise

External rendering of the new V&A East Museum at Stratford Waterfront, designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey:

image © O’Donnell + Tuomey

O’Donnell + Tuomey

External render view of the new V&A East Museum at Stratford Waterfront, designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey:

image © O’Donnell + Tuomey

Victoria & Albert Museum – architecture designs on e-architect

O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects

Buildings for the V&A, the London College of Fashion and Sadler’s Wells in Stratford
Design: Allies & Morrison / O’Donnell & Tuomey / Arquitecturia

image from architects

Location: Stratford, East London, UK.

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