V&A East Museum | O'Donnell + Tuomey

V&A East Museum – Architecture statement

John Tuomey, Founding Director of O'Donnell + Tuomey, said: “Since winning the architectural competition in 2015, we have worked with the V&A team to make a new kind of museum, welcoming to a wide audience. V&A East Museum stands on a public square at the heart of East Bank, Stratford’s new cultural and educational district . Making public work with civic purpose is a motivating principle of our practice. V&A East Museum has been a special project in our portfolio. We are delighted to see it open its doors.”

Positioned on Waterfront Square, V&A East Museum is conceived as a place for people to meet, find ideas and encounter making in all its forms. The V&A’s brief for O’Donnell + Tuomey was to design a museum that would be welcoming, distinctive and open to all, particularly young people, east London communities and visitors who may not previously have felt at ease in museum spaces. O’Donnell + Tuomey’s response was to create an open and truly public building at the centre of East Bank that celebrates craft, materiality and making, designed to prompt curiosity and draw people inside while protecting the museum’s objects.

O’Donnell + Tuomey drew inspiration from seeing Cristóbal Balenciaga’s sculptural tailoring in the V&A’s collection, particularly his attention to the space between garment and body, as well as the Japanese concept of “Ma”, or “the space in between”. This informed the idea of a protective outer shell that wraps around a rational internal core. The space between the façade and the structure becomes a sequence of dramatic circulation routes that guide visitors upwards.

The folded facade, crafted in intricate detail, gives strength and identity to the architectural form. The exterior is formed from 479 sand coloured precast concrete panels, each uniquely shaped and scored with profiles that reference the V&A’s distinctive logo. The linework of the panels align to create a unified pattern along the three-dimensional folded façade that catches the changing light over the course of a day, animating the building’s exterior. Benches integrated into the façade at ground and podium level bring people into close contact with the building and extend its threshold into the public realm.

Inside, five public levels contain two permanent galleries, a 900sqm temporary exhibition gallery, a top-floor project and event space, learning facilities and a café. Spaces are aligned vertically and connected by a continuous circulation route carved from the thickness of the external walls. Terrazzo concrete floors reinforce a sense of material continuity with the public area outside the museum. Carefully positioned windows along the circulation routes and three public terraces introduce daylight, views and connection to East Bank and the City. Two entrances at the waterfront and podium levels offer a barrier-free welcome through triangular openings that recall pattern cutting darts. The crafted white interiors provide a calm backdrop for V&A galleries, commissions, live events and temporary exhibitions.