O’Donnell + Tuomey Reveals Jewel-Like V&A East Museum in London

The article reports on the reveal of the exterior for the V&A East Museum in London by Irish studio O’Donnell + Tuomey. The five-storey building appears as a jewel-like object wrapped in a protective yet inviting jacket of precast concrete panels.

The museum is set beside the London College of Fashion and faces the Olympic Stadium on the Olympic Park. Its radical skin and interior organization aim to contrast and complement the urban context while housing bold gallery spaces and a new public realm.

Exterior identity and facade strategy

The design presents an angular, pyramidal form with a strong, singular identity. The outer skin is solid with minimal windows, so the building reads as a discrete object while still engaging with the public realm.

The facade features a jacket of 479 unique precast concrete panels, each around two metres high and up to 14 metres long. These panels are cast to resemble sandstone, giving the structure a stone-like presence.

Key detailing includes linear decorations incised into many panels that reference the V&A logo, a motif conceived by Pentagram. Other panels translate the logo into relief through V-shaped indents and A-shaped peaks, reinforcing a cohesive, brand-driven language for the museum.

The outer skin is protective yet inviting, with façades angled outwards toward a new public square. This design draws visitors into the entrance and ground-floor café.

Crafting the skin: precast concrete and panel geometry

The building’s skin uses a disciplined panel strategy. The 479 panels vary in plan and elevation, creating a continuous yet textured facade.

The sandstone casting effect gives the impression of a carved, monumental block. Incised and relief motifs create a clear connection to the V&A’s visual identity.

Interior organization and gallery concept

Inside, the museum organizes galleries as regular boxes stacked around a central core. Circulation, entrances, and staircases occupy the space between the protective jacket and the gallery volumes.

This layout balances a strong exterior shell with flexible, daylight-neutral interior spaces for changing exhibitions. John Tuomey highlights the Japanese concept of Ma—the space in between—as a guiding idea.

The experience is intended to feel like being “held in the wall” before entering the exhibition spaces. This moment of anticipation precedes the display areas.

The spatial logic supports a calm and controlled journey, allowing visitors to orient themselves before moving through the galleries.

Galleries and programming: Why We Make and public spaces

The Why We Make galleries are being prepared by UK studio JA Projects. This signals a curated hub for design, craft, and making within the V&A East complex.

The new museum complements the V&A East Storehouse by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, expanding the institution’s approach to displaying design and making. The project’s photography is by Hufton + Crow, emphasizing the material quality and sculptural presence of the exterior.

Context, collaboration, and urban dialogue

The V&A East sits next to the London College of Fashion, with visual and pedestrian connections to a growing cultural cluster on the Olympic Park. The building’s facade asserts a strong architectural voice and engages with a public square and the surrounding city fabric.

Passersby are invited into a ground-level café and into the public realm that the square creates. Collaborative ecosystem includes JA Projects’ preparation of the Why We Make galleries and DS&R’s Storehouse as a companion project.

The combined program broadens the V&A East’s storytelling—from storage and display to making and design pedagogy. This reinforces London’s identity as a hub of architecture, education, and culture.

Legacy and forward-looking impact

By pairing a sculptural, sandstone-like jacket with a disciplined gallery core, the V&A East Museum sets a new benchmark for how modern museums can fuse material integrity and brand identity. The design leverages Ma as both a philosophical framework and a practical spatial strategy.

Visitors are invited to experience architecture as a safeguard and a doorway to discovery. With the public opening on April 18 approaching, the project signals a bold step in London’s evolving museum landscape.

 
Here is the source article for this story: O’Donnell + Tuomey reveals “jewel-like” V&A East museum ahead of opening