V&A Museum gets go-ahead for £41m underground extension

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This article titled “V&A Museum gets go-ahead for m underground extension” was written by Mark Brown, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 11th July 2012 18.20 UTC

The V&A has been given planning permission for its m underground extension plan, which will result in a purpose-built space for temporary exhibitions.

Martin Roth, the museum’s director, said the decision made by Kensington and Chelsea council was “a significant moment for the V&A”. Paul Ruddock, chairman of trustees, said: “We are delighted to move a significant step closer to signalling this new era of the V&A’s remarkable history which will transform the way we present temporary exhibitions and reinforce the museum as a world leader of art and design.”

The V&A said m had been pledged to the project, which leaves m to be raised. If all goes to plan, building work will begin in 2013 and it will open to the public in 2016.

The new space has been designed by British architect Amanda Levete and her practice AL_A, and comes eight years after the V&A abandoned Daniel Libeskind’s provocative Spiral extension, which resembled an uneven stack of cardboard boxes and brought outraged howls of protest.

There has been far less controversy over the AL_A design, which uses office space on the Exhibition Road side of the building. The plan is that visitors will walk into an open public courtyard that will be a space for installations, events and a cafe; while down below will be a new 1,500-sq-metre gallery space for big temporary exhibitions.

The project will also reveal the building’s beautiful Victorian facades on the west side, which have been restored but are not on public view.

Levete said it was “a defining project” for AL_A. She added: “We’re reimagining the dialogue between the V&A and Exhibition Road and, in doing so, creating a new public space in the cultural and learning heart of London. It’s made particularly special by the V&A collections having inspired so much of our work.”

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