The V&A unveils plans for Here East

We're excited to reveal that the Victoria and Albert Museum has today announced exciting new plans to open a research and collection centre inside the Broadcasting Centre at Here East.

The museum has unveiled plans that will revolutionise how its world-leading collection of art, design and performance are accessed, explored and experienced. Visitors will be invited on a behind-the-scenes journey that uncovers and demonstrates how and why objects are collected, how they are cared for, conserved and researched and how they help make sense of our past, present and future.

The centre will be a purpose-built home for 250,000 objects and an additional 917 archives spanning the breadth of the V&A’s collection from fashion, textiles, furniture, theatre and performance, to painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, design, architecture, and digital. A central public collection hall will turn the store inside out, with a rich array of objects on display for visitors to explore – from some of the smallest curiosities in the collection to the largest and most significant rooms and building fragments.

Further spaces within the centre will host pop-up displays, workshops, performances and screenings alongside live encounters with the museum’s work. A dedicated viewing gallery will be created to showcase a changing display of rarely-seen large rolled objects from the V&A’s extraordinary collection of theatre stage cloths, carpets, textiles, tapestries and paintings.

The V&A will join the fastest growing cluster of tech and creative businesses in London at Here East, as well as a community of 3,500 people working across academic institutions such as UCL and Loughborough University, large companies such as BT Sport and Ford and a wide range of start-ups.

"Since its inception, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has been a global platform to showcase the very best of the UK. Here East has continued this spirit by curating a community of creative businesses, world-class academics and technology entrepreneurs who are pioneering the future of British business. V&A East will be a perfect partner for the campus, bringing a great British brand to East London and reimagining the way the British public can interact with one of the finest collections in the world."

-Gavin Poole, CEO of Here East