V&A East is part of East Bank, a culture and education quarter in London’s Stratford. The new development includes a five-storey museum (V&A East Museum) and a collection a research centre (V&A East Storehouse).
The V&A East Museum is currently in the middle of the base-build, managed by the London Legacy Development Corporation, according to the V&A Blog.
The foundations and circulation cores are now complete, and the complex steel frame is being erected. The V&A said this will continue through early 2022.
The pre-cast concrete panels are being formed by Techrete. The company also produced the concrete fins for V&A Dundee. The base-build is set to complete in spring 2023.
V&A East Museum opens in 2025
After this, the V&A East Museum plans to start the internal finishes, before the fit-out of galleries, café and shop. The attraction is scheduled to open to the public in 2025.
The V&A East Museum will run public competitions to design the fit-outs for the shop and galleries, launched towards the end of 2022.
As for the V&A East Storehouse, the main feature stair is now being installed. The facility is also completing the internal partitions and installing the storage systems and building services.
The main building works will complete in early 2022. After a period of environmental stabilisation and the installation of complex objects, the V&A East Storehouse will start installing the collection in summer 2022.
V&A East Storehouse debuts in 2024
The centre’s collection includes 260,000 objects, 915 archives and 350,000 library books. After these have been relocated, the V&A East Storehouse will fit the café, wayfinding system, and objects in the cantilevered shelves.
The V&A East Storehouse opens to the public in 2024. Earlier this year, the V&A East Museum’s opening was delayed from 2023 to 2025 due to COVID-19.
Gus Casely-Hayford, director of V&A East, also shared more information about the “new creative campus and social space” in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Images: V&A
