V&A EAST STOREHOUSE
The Victoria and Albert Museum set out to reject traditional and barrier heavy curation by turning its vast archive inside out at the new V&A East Storehouse. As the experiential technology partner, we engineered a highly adaptable digital infrastructure. This framework incorporates large scale video walls, interactive signage, and immersive sound environments that integrate cleanly into the architecture. By removing traditional physical and technical boundaries, the installation allows visitors to explore over half a million objects at their own pace.
The Victoria and Albert Museum set out to reject traditional and barrier heavy curation by turning its vast archive inside out at the new V&A East Storehouse. As the experiential technology partner, we engineered a highly adaptable digital infrastructure. This framework incorporates large scale video walls, interactive signage, and immersive sound environments that integrate cleanly into the architecture. By removing traditional physical and technical boundaries, the installation allows visitors to explore over half a million objects at their own pace.
Turning A Vast National Archive Inside Out
Traditional museums operate on a strict division where a highly curated selection of objects sits under glass in public galleries, while the remaining majority of the national collection is locked away in storage crates. The Victoria and Albert Museum chose to reject this model entirely. For the V&A East Storehouse at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the ambition was radical. The brief demanded a working storage facility spanning four levels and 16,000 square metres that invites the public directly into the stacks to walk alongside forklift trucks and conservation specialists.
The largest Picasso work in the world, the 1924 front stage cloth for the Ballets Russes’ production, Le Train Bleu, at V&A East Storehouse. Image by David Parry/PA Media Assignments. Pablo Picasso, Le Train Bleu front stage cloth, 1924 © The estate of Pablo Picasso
View of Weston Collections Hall, which features over 100 mini curated displays, at V&A East Storehouse. Image by Kemka Ajoku for V&A
Multi-purpose conservation studio, visible by the Conservation Overlook at V&A East Storehouse. Image by David Parry, PA Media Assignments
Engineering An Invisible Digital Backbone For Culture
Our engineering approach was driven by a single constraint. The technology must remain entirely invisible until the narrative requires it. Working closely with the architectural teams from concept stage, we delivered high-impact video walls, flexible projection environments, and responsive digital signage that adapt dynamically as the museum’s rotating collection changes. To support the physical geometry of the building, we engineered custom fabrication packages for the technology housings, embedding audio-visual hardware directly into the structural fabric and added software configurable infrastructure. Every display endpoint and directional speaker functions in harmony with the architecture, ensuring the technology supports the space rather than cluttering it.
View of Weston Collections Hall, which features over 100 mini curated displays, at V&A East Storehouse. Image by Kemka Ajoku for V&A
View of Weston Collections Hall, which features over 100 mini curated displays, at V&A East Storehouse. Image by Kemka Ajoku for V&A
The Weston Collections Hall at V&A East Storehouse, including over 100 mini curated displays ‘hacked’ into the ends and sides of the storage racking. Image by Hufton + Crow for V&A
Redefining The Museum Experience For Global Audiences
The project has redefined how national institutions handle public engagement. Following the launch, the facility received immediate critical validation, with national press reviews celebrating the immersive, glass-free access that allows visitors to share the same air as the artefacts. The technical architecture has proven entirely reliable under sustained public footfall. Through this sixteenth collaboration with the V&A, we have demonstrated that complex, high-bandwidth technical frameworks can sit comfortably inside a highly sensitive cultural environment.
Mesh roll-out storage racking at V&A East Storehouse. Available via Object Encounters visits. Image by Hufton + Crow for V&A
View of Weston Collections Hall at V&A East Storehouse. Image by Kemka Ajoku for V&A
View of the exquisite 15th century carved and gilded wooden ceiling, the Torrijos Ceiling, from the now lost Torrijos Palace in Spain, at V&A East Storehouse. Image by David Parry, PA Media Assignments