Overview
- The museum, which opens to the public Saturday, April 18, anchors Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s East Bank alongside the V&A East Storehouse that opened in 2025.
- Designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey, the building uses 479 unique sand‑coloured precast panels and a separated outer shell inspired by Balenciaga’s sculptural tailoring and the Japanese idea of “Ma.”
- Visitors get two free permanent Why We Make galleries drawn from the V&A collection, a 900 sq m temporary gallery, learning spaces, a café and a top‑floor project and events room.
- The inaugural show The Music Is Black: A British Story charts 125 years of Black British music with more than 200 objects, a BBC Music partnership and a linked festival across East Bank through summer 2026.
- V&A East leaders emphasize free access to permanent displays and youth-first programming shaped with more than 30,000 local participants, while GLA figures cite a £115m project cost and a pledge to cover capped operating shortfalls if required.