Order an Object Experience
What was the challenge?
In 2025 the V&A is launching V&A East Storehouse, a new cultural destination in East London that will allow visitors to immerse themselves with unprecedented access in the V&A’s collections of over half a million works.
This is going to be a unique and world-leading experience – visitors will be invited to go behind the scenes of a working museum, getting up close with the objects and discovering their stories and how they are collected and cared for.
As part of this pioneering initiative, the V&A commissioned us to design a dynamic experience specifically for 16 to 24-year-olds from the surrounding Olympic boroughs, inspiring them to engage with the collections in an entirely new way and forge meaningful connections with the museum.
What did we do?
Articulating that the collections belong to the local community was a key aim for the V&A team, so to ensure authentic community representation, we knew co-design had to be at the heart of this project. From boxing gyms in Newham to play centres in Hackney, we ran fun research sessions with local young people to better understand ideal leisure and cultural experiences and to test creative concepts.
Our audience research provided valuable insights for both the V&A team and our design process – sparking relevance and personal connection with objects was going to be critical to creating a meaningful experience for these young visitors.
Storehouse’s uniqueness within the global museums world necessitated the creation of a truly bold and dynamic experience that would fully capture the imaginations of the V&A’s young audience.
Through an end-to-end co-design process and working closely with the V&A team to ensure the practical feasibility of our concepts, we curated a world-first immersive and sensory experience, where visitors step inside vivid imaginary worlds inspired by object narratives. Through a multisensory exploration including audio, moving image and touch, visitors will experience museum objects as never before - from hands-on encounters with precious pieces to spectacular scenes with exciting reveals.
On a practical level, we devised a full operating model for the experience, including visitor figures and start-up and running costs, allowing the V&A to move the groundbreaking experience from its concept stage to full implementation.
Internal render view of the central collection hall in V&A East Storehouse, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 2021