V&A East Storehouse: The Museum That Lets You Touch History — A Complete Guide

Somewhere in east London, the rules of museum-going have been quietly, radically rewritten. At V&A East Storehouse — opened on 31 May 2025 in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford — you will not find hushed galleries, velvet ropes, or the familiar frustration of knowing that ninety per cent of the collection is hidden somewhere you will never be allowed to go. Here, everything is visible. Everything is, in principle, reachable. And almost everything is free.

What Is V&A East Storehouse?

V&A East Storehouse is the newest and most radical outpost of the Victoria and Albert Museum — the world’s leading museum of art, design, and performance. Designed by the celebrated American architectural practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the building occupies part of the former London 2012 Olympics Media Centre and spans four levels and 16,000 square metres — the equivalent of more than thirty basketball courts.

It is, in the words of TIME magazine, “an ambitious hybrid: part storage facility, part research centre, part interactive public access point.” It does not pretend to be a conventional museum. It is something genuinely new: a working archive that has thrown open its doors and invited the public in — not to observe, but to engage.

Half a Million Objects — and You Can Choose Any One

The Storehouse holds over 250,000 objects, 350,000 books, and nearly 1,000 archives — representing five thousand years of human creativity across fashion, furniture, ceramics, photography, musical instruments, textiles, jewellery and more. The breadth is staggering: Balenciaga gowns shelved alongside Samurai swords; vintage football kits near 14th-century paintings; Glastonbury Festival ephemera a few aisles from Roman antiquities.

Particular highlights built into the very architecture of the building include objects that were previously too large or fragile to display anywhere:

• The world’s largest Picasso: The 1924 front-stage cloth painted by Pablo Picasso for the Ballets Russes production of Le Train Bleu — unseen for decades due to its extraordinary scale, now permanently embedded in the Storehouse walls.
• A recreation of the 1970s Robin Hood Gardens council estate — the legendary brutalist housing project by Alison and Peter Smithson.
• A complete, original 1950s kitchen — an intimate time capsule of postwar domestic life.
• Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kaufmann office — a 1930s interior by one of architecture’s greatest figures.
• The 15th-century marquetry ceiling from the Altamira Palace near Toledo, Spain.

Order an Object: A Revolution in Museum Access

The single most remarkable feature of V&A East Storehouse is its “Order an Object” service — and it is, without question, one of the most genuinely democratic ideas in modern museology.

The premise is simple: browse the V&A’s online catalogue, select up to five objects you wish to examine, book a free appointment, and arrive at the Storehouse to spend time alone with those objects — guided by an experienced member of the collections team. No glass barrier. No crowded gallery. Just you and the work.

The service is available seven days a week and is entirely free of charge. A student researching textile history might order a 17th-century silk brocade. A designer might request a Cristóbal Balenciaga evening gown. A music lover might book time with one of the instruments from the David Bowie archive. Since the service launched, the single most requested object has been a pink silk taffeta gown by Balenciaga, dating from 1954.

Please note: Order an Object appointments must be booked online at least two weeks in advance — the service is extremely popular.

The David Bowie Centre

Opened in September 2025, the David Bowie Centre is the permanent home of the late musician’s personal archive — one of the most significant collections in the history of popular culture. The archive comprises over 90,000 items: handwritten lyrics, costumes, musical instruments, album artwork, photography, sketches, and documentary materials spanning six decades of one of music’s most restless and transformative careers.

Nine rotating mini-displays present around 200 highlights, spotlighting key moments across Bowie’s life and creative collaborations. Amongst the objects on display: the shoes designed for Bowie as Ziggy Stardust (1972); the suit from the Life on Mars? music video; the EMS Synthi AKS synthesiser used by Brian Eno and Bowie on Heroes, Low and Lodger; and the Alexander McQueen frock coat designed for Bowie’s 50th birthday concert in 1997.

Three-dimensional objects from the Bowie archive — costumes, instruments, props and stage scenery — can also be booked through the Order an Object service. Free, though advance booking is essential.

East Bank: London’s New Cultural District

V&A East Storehouse is one part of a wider cultural transformation of Stratford. The surrounding East Bank development now includes the V&A East Museum (opened 18 April 2026), Sadler’s Wells East, the BBC Music Studios, and the University of the Arts London’s London College of Fashion — all within walking distance of each other in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This area, once defined by its industrial past, is rapidly becoming one of London’s most exciting cultural destinations.

London’s Museums Are Free — and That Matters

V&A East Storehouse is free to enter — as are the British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum, among many others. This is not a given elsewhere in the world. London’s commitment to free public access to culture is one of the city’s defining and most admirable characteristics, and one that is easily taken for granted. Whether you are visiting London for the first time or have lived here for years, these institutions deserve to be experienced — fully and often.

Practical Information

• Address: 2 Parkes Street, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hackney Wick, London E20 3AX
• Opening hours: Daily 10:00–18:00 | Thursday & Saturday until 22:00
• Admission: Free
• Getting there: Hackney Wick station (London Overground, 5-minute walk) or Stratford station (Elizabeth line, Jubilee line, DLR, Overground)
• Order an Object: Book online at vam.ac.uk/east/storehouse — at least two weeks in advance
• Accessibility: Fully wheelchair accessible with lift access on each floor