V&A East Storehouse

Sector Arts & Civic, Culture

Client McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd

Reimagining the Museum from the Inside Out

Bond Bryan is proud to support the delivery of the V&A East Collections and Research Centre — a groundbreaking cultural facility forming part of London’s East Bank, the capital’s most ambitious cultural development in a generation.

Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and delivered by Bond Bryan alongside McLaughlin & Harvey, the 16,000m² facility represents a world-first hybrid of public archive, immersive visitor experience, and working museum infrastructure.

Value

The Collections and Research Centre radically redefines the traditional concept of a museum store.
Designed to house:

250,000 objects
350,000 books
Over 1,000 archives

The facility spans an extraordinary range of disciplines — from fashion and textiles to architecture, sculpture, and digital media. At its heart, a 360-degree public collections hall immerses visitors in a cabinet of curiosities-style experience, offering direct access to artefacts once hidden from view.

The new centre is purpose-built to consolidate collections from the V&A’s former storage at Blythe House, while incorporating state-of-the-art, flexible storage systems tailored to each object type.

Bond Bryan has led the technical delivery of this unique vision — ensuring robust coordination between public-facing zones, conservation studios, and archival environments, all within a modern, code-compliant and highly functional building envelope.

“Delivering a building of this cultural and technical ambition takes detailed coordination and purposeful design thinking, we’re not just making a building — we’re supporting a new kind of museum experience.”

Win Duong Interior Design Lead - Bond Bryan

Impact

The Collections and Research Centre is one half of the V&A East vision, which also includes a forthcoming new museum, due to open in 2026. Together, they mark the most ambitious transformation in the institution’s 170-year history — a move toward radical transparency, inclusive engagement, and cultural innovation.

As a creative anchor in East London’s new cultural quarter, the centre is poised to become a landmark — not just for what it stores, but for how it shares.

“Our Collection and Research Centre will be a global first, combining a unique visitor attraction with a working museum store that meets the complex and varied needs of the V&A’s diverse collection.”

Claire McKeown Project Director - V&A East

Sustainability

While new-build in form, the project embraces the principles of adaptive reuse and sustainable museum practice. As part of the wider regeneration of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the building has been developed with long-term flexibility in mind — allowing for future curatorial change, evolving object care standards, and increased digital integration.

Bond Bryan’s retrofit-informed technical strategy ensures efficient building services, climate-controlled environments, and optimal energy use across the facility. The seamless integration of large-scale collection items — including architectural fragments and historic interiors — required bespoke spatial planning and material solutions to meet both conservation needs and environmental targets.

The project is aligned with BREEAM and British Standards for cultural facilities, supporting the V&A’s commitment to responsible stewardship and sustainable public infrastructure.