Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design new V&A Collection and Research Centre in London

The V&A this morning announced the winning team of its competition to design the new Collection & Research Centre planned for Here East in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with Austin-Smith:Lord and Studio Adrien Gardère, were selected from a shortlist of five firms which also included 6a, Gareth Hoskins Architects, Haworth Tompkins and AOC as well as Robbrecht en Daem and DRDH.

The new center will widen access to the V&A's vast collection of art and design objects that are not currently on display and provide new spaces for research and learning activities as well as other public programs.

"It is thrilling to contribute to a new wave of rethinking how London's cultural institutions can reconnect to the city - from the Cultural Mile to the developments emerging in Queen Elizabeth Park," DS+R Partner Elizabeth Diller commented upon learning about the competition outcome. 

"We’re excited to start experimenting with the V&A on this new model for collection storage and public display at Here East. Planned from the inside-out, V&A East will be like stepping into an immersive cabinet of curiosities—a three-dimensional sampling of the eclectic collection of artifacts, programmed with diverse spaces for research, object study, workshops, and back-of-house functions. We aspire to design an institution that invites the public to unpack and explore the depths of an otherwise hidden collection of remarkable things," Diller said.

The new center is scheduled to open in 2023.