V&A East Storehouse is the V&A's working store in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and you can walk into it for nothing, any day of the week. Around half a million objects are kept on open racks, and if you want to handle one of them, you can book a free appointment and have it brought out for you.
Most museums show you perhaps five per cent of what they own. The rest sits in a warehouse you will never see. The V&A turned that idea inside out in May 2025: the store itself became the visitor attraction, with walkways threaded between the shelves so you look down on Roman marble, Vivienne Westwood dresses and a whole 15th-century ceiling from Spain.
There is no ticket and no booking for general entry. Our overview of the V&A in South Kensington covers the main museum; this page is about the Stratford store, how the free object-ordering service works, and the practical rules that catch people out, starting with the fact that you cannot carry a bag around it.
V&A East Storehouse in brief
- Address
- Parkes Street, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, E20 3AX, inside the Here East building
- Entry
- Free, no booking needed
- Open
- Daily 10.00 to 18.00; Thursday and Saturday until 22.00; closed 24 to 26 December
- Nearest station
- Hackney Wick (London Overground), 0.3 miles, about 8 minutes on foot
- Order an Object
- Free; book at least two weeks ahead; up to five objects
- David Bowie Centre
- £5, concessions available (September 2026); advance booking advised
- Bags
- Not allowed past the Welcome Space; free lockers, no luggage storage
- Opened
- 31 May 2025
What the building actually is
Storehouse occupies part of Here East, the long low building that was the Olympic press centre in 2012. Inside, the architects cut a void through four storeys and called it the Weston Collections Hall. It is more than 20 metres from floor to ceiling, and the public walkways run round three levels of it.
The floors of those walkways are metal grid, and the balustrades are glass, so you can see all the way down while you walk. In the middle of the hall a panel of glass flooring lets you look straight down onto the Agra Colonnade, a set of carved sandstone arcades, and onto the working store below it.
That is the first thing to understand about the visit: this is not a gallery with labels and benches. It is a shelving system you are allowed inside. Staff are moving objects around you, sometimes with machinery, and it can be noisy. Some visitors find that thrilling and some find it baffling. If you like seeing how things work, you will probably want two hours here.
Flat shoes, or you will regret it. The V&A says the metal grid flooring is not suitable for stilettos or kitten heels, and heels do get stuck. The same flooring can be uncomfortable for assistance dogs over a long visit, which is worth planning around.
Order an Object: having something brought out for you
This is the part of Storehouse that nothing else in London offers, and it is free. You search the V&A's online collection, filter for objects held at Storehouse, add up to five of them to a virtual crate and book an appointment. A member of the Collections Access team meets you, spends about fifteen minutes explaining how to handle what you have chosen, and then leaves you with it.
Appointments run from one to four hours, and you may bring one guest. If you have picked something large or complicated, book the longer slot, because you may not get through five objects in an hour. Only objects showing an "Order this Object" button can be booked this way; items marked "view by appointment" without that button belong to the National Art Library or the Prints and Drawings Study Room instead.
Book at least two weeks in advance. All five objects must be at the same site, so you cannot mix Storehouse holdings with things kept in South Kensington in one appointment. Choose carefully and specifically: a request for "a Georgian teapot" will not work, but a catalogue number will.
Ordering an object is the cheapest private museum experience in London. Two people, one appointment, five objects out of the racks, no charge at all. Compare that with a guided tour of anywhere else on this site and it starts to look extraordinary.
What to see if you have not booked anything
You do not need an appointment to get a lot out of Storehouse. Three things are worth going out of your way for.
- Mini displays. Curated cases are dotted across all three levels. Each one has a QR code that opens the Storehouse Lookup on your phone and tells you what you are looking at, so bring a charged phone.
- Object Encounters. Free group sessions, several times a day, in which a member of staff brings out a particular object and talks about it. They are not advertised far in advance: the day's list goes up on the noticeboard in the Welcome Space, and you sign up at the Study Centre on level 2.
- The Conservation Overlook. On level 3 there is a glazed balcony above the conservation studio, with a live feed screen beside it. On a weekday you can watch someone working on a textile or a painting.
The David Bowie Centre, and why it costs £5
Bowie's archive came to the V&A and now lives permanently at Storehouse, inside the Study Centre. The display shows around 200 curated pieces at a time: the Freddie Burretti suit from the Life on Mars? video, the Ziggy Stardust shoes made by Pelican Footwear in New York, a red Steinberger guitar he was given in 2000.
Entry to the Bowie Centre is £5 for an adult, with concessions available (September 2026), and the V&A recommends booking in advance. It is the one part of the site that is not free. If you want to go deeper than the display, the same Order an Object service applies to the Bowie archive, and that part is free.
Check the current price and availability on the V&A's David Bowie Centre page before you travel, because the display rotates and booking slots go quickly at weekends.
Bags, coats and the locker problem
Because this is a real store, nothing is allowed into the collection area: not rucksacks, not tote bags, not even a small handbag, and not a wet coat. Everything goes into a locker in the Welcome Space, and the lockers are free but first come, first served.
The standard locker is 25 cm wide, 27 cm high and 43 cm deep. There is a small number of taller ones, 57 cm high. There is no facility for suitcases, so do not arrive from the airport with your luggage. If you need to store a case for the day, our guide to left luggage in London lists the options near the main stations.
Umbrellas need to fit in a locker too. The V&A provides umbrella bags for that, and buckets by the door for the ones that will not fit, at your own risk. There is a buggy park in the Welcome Space, and the V&A asks you to leave pushchairs there rather than take them up to the walkways.
At busy times there is a queue, and it is outdoors. If the wait looks like passing 30 minutes, people with bookings and anyone who cannot stand for long are let in first. Saturdays and school holidays are the worst. A Thursday evening, when the building stays open until 22.00, is the calmest time we know of.
Getting there, and the shuttle nobody mentions
Hackney Wick station on the Mildmay line of the London Overground is the closest, about eight minutes' walk. If you are not sure which Overground line that is, our guide to the Overground's renamed lines explains the colours and names introduced in 2024.
From Stratford it is 0.9 miles, about twenty minutes on foot through the park, and from Stratford International about seventeen minutes. All three stations have step-free access. The 388 bus stops outside Here East, and Here East runs its own free shuttle buses from the Stratford stations every ten minutes from 6.30am to 9pm, Monday to Friday, which is much the easiest option on a wet day.
There is no visitor parking. Santander Cycle docks and cycle racks are on Parkes Street itself, and the park is laced with cycle lanes, so hiring a bike works well if the weather is kind.
| Route from central London | Typical time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Overground to Hackney Wick | About 25 min from Liverpool Street via Stratford | Shortest walk at the far end |
| Central line or Elizabeth line to Stratford | About 15 min from Liverpool Street | Then the free Here East shuttle, weekdays only |
| Jubilee line to Stratford | About 20 min from Bond Street | 20-minute walk across the park |
Storehouse and V&A East Museum: which is which
The V&A now has two sites in the Olympic Park, a short walk apart, and visitors mix them up constantly. Storehouse is the store, in Here East at Hackney Wick. V&A East Museum is the conventional museum, on East Bank at Stratford, and it opened on 18 April 2026. Both are free and both keep the same hours, including the late openings on Thursday and Saturday.
If you have half a day, do both, and walk between them through the park. Storehouse first, while you are fresh enough to enjoy the strangeness of it, then the museum. Our guide to the Olympic Park today covers the rest of the site, and our Stratford neighbourhood guide has the eating options, which are thin at Hackney Wick and plentiful at Stratford.
Eating, and what else is in walking distance
Here East has cafes and bars along its canal-side frontage, and Hackney Wick beyond it has a concentration of breweries and canal-side bars that is unlike anywhere else in London. Our guide to brewery taprooms covers the ones that open to the public, and our Hackney guide puts the area in context.
For a family day, Storehouse pairs well with the swimming pool at the London Aquatics Centre or the shops at Westfield Stratford City. Teenagers, in our experience, take to Storehouse better than to a conventional gallery, which is why it appears in our list of museums that work for teenagers.
Because everything here is indoors, it also belongs on any list of things to do in London when it rains, and it is one of the strongest entries among London's free museums. If you are collecting late openings, see our guide to museum late nights.
Frequently asked questions
Is V&A East Storehouse free?
General admission is free and you do not need to book. The only charge is £5 for the David Bowie Centre display inside the Study Centre (September 2026). Ordering objects out of the racks through the Order an Object service is also free, but it must be booked at least two weeks ahead.
How do I book Order an Object at V&A East Storehouse?
Search the V&A's Explore the Collections website, filter for objects held at V&A East Storehouse, and add up to five with the "Order this Object" button. You then pick an appointment of one to four hours. All five objects must be at the same site, and appointments open at least two weeks in advance.
Can I take a bag into V&A East Storehouse?
No. Bags of any size, including small handbags, and wet coats must be left in the free lockers in the Welcome Space. Standard lockers are 25 cm by 27 cm by 43 cm, with a few taller ones. There is no storage for suitcases, so leave luggage elsewhere before you come.
How long does a visit to V&A East Storehouse take?
Allow an hour and a half to two hours to walk all three levels, look at the mini displays and watch the conservators. Add an Object Encounter, or an Order an Object appointment of one to four hours, and it becomes a half day.
What is the difference between V&A East Storehouse and V&A East Museum?
Storehouse is the open collection store at Hackney Wick, inside Here East, which opened in May 2025. V&A East Museum is a conventional museum on East Bank at Stratford, which opened on 18 April 2026. Both are free, both open daily 10.00 to 18.00, and both stay open until 22.00 on Thursdays and Saturdays.
Sources
- V&A - Visit V&A East Storehouse (checked September 2026)
- V&A - Order an Object (checked September 2026)
- V&A - David Bowie Centre (checked September 2026)
- V&A - Visit V&A East Museum (checked September 2026)
- Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - East Bank (checked September 2026)