Report: Victoria & Albert Museum in London: New V&A extension and entrance

© Hufton+Crow
© Hufton+Crow
© Hufton+Crow
© Hufton+Crow
© Stephen Citrone
When British practice AL_A won the competition to create a new gallery and entrance for the world-renowned V&A Museum in London they already knew that most of the construction and project would, paradoxically, take place below ground. Architecturally this was a challenge.

The practice grappled with the idea of how to make subterranean space enjoyable, light-filled and even dramatic for visitors and the public. As Matt Wilkinson, an associate AL_A and project architect for the V&A scheme, said, “How do you make it not feel like a bunker?” (Giovanna Dunmall)