Young V&A, the UK's first and only museum designed by children

Young V&A is a 5200 sqm space in Bethnal Green, east London, named after its primary clientele and co-designers—children. More than 22000 local pupils have co-created this new experience, with AOC Architecture and De Matos Ryan taking the lead. Formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, and a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the revamped museum supports children's development in a relevant and engaging way, unlike the previous facility geared towards adults. AOC Architecture's 10-month residency at the museum enabled students from nursery to secondary school to participate. The museum design includes architectural accents and interactive installations designed by the children.

The overall concept behind the 'world’s most joyful museum' began with a reintroduction of light and colour into the Grade II-listed building, over 150 years old. The existing central corridor was cleared to create an expansive public atrium called 'Town Square' that doubles as an open play space. Additionally, the renovated structure has a temporary exhibition gallery, three workshop spaces, a reading room, a lobby shop, and a café. Roof additions accumulated over the years were pared back and a roof light was added. A large semi-circular opening at the end of the main hall was opened to allow the natural light in and the scenic views to play backdrop to the creative commotion indoors. For seating, a continuous London plane bench runs down the sides of the atrium, terminating at the feature staircase topped with a reflective orb inspired by optical illusion toys from the V&A's collection. The children developed the overall colour palette while exploring the Bethnal Green environment. The corridor was kept fairly neutral to allow the wonder and delight and noise of the galleries to flow through.

The three new galleries called Play, Imagine, and Design, freely look into the central atrium, with a sense of carefree permeability, each catering to a different age group. The gallery names or “Amaze Letters” are enlarged to help visitors understand the museum in a single glance.

Soft, textured materials line the floor, walls, and ceiling of the Play Gallery, designed for the little limbs of toddlers. It has its own Mini Museum inside, inspired by how babies and toddlers first experience the world. Objects are placed at children’s eye level, where they can discover colours, textures, and shapes as they explore the space. A section on games including a make-your-own board game table displaying the design of video games, and a giant foam construction set are a few of the imaginative inclusions of the space.  

The Imagine gallery, aimed at 5 to 11-year-olds, inspires creative expression through performance, storytelling, imagination, and community. It contains a condensed theatre-like room where a deep crimson carpet covers most of the visible surfaces. A dressing-up wardrobe and shadow puppets encourage kids to perform on the stage. The much-loved dolls’ house collection, some interactive, has been imaginatively re-arranged on a streetscape, so visitors can walk between them.

Upstairs, the Design gallery—intended for teenagers—showcases innovative objects and case studies that explore how things are designed and used, and how design can change the world. Hands-on activities, workshops, and collaborations with contemporary designers will introduce young people to different design processes and develop problem-solving skills. To make it practical, two spaces are set apart as The Shed, to house a designer or artist in residence, and the Open Studio, where design challenges will be set for the youngsters and a place provided for them to apply their learning. An engaging wall on urban mobility and the design of scooters has been conjured up, along with a mini factory that sheds light on myriad manufacturing processes behind everyday objects.

More than 1700 objects were carefully packed and transported to the museum and expertly installed with over 1000 bespoke object mounts. Three new workshop spaces and a reading room on the lower ground floor will support a year-round curriculum of education activities. Making sustainable choices throughout has been at the core of the approach. For example, the case study tables were made of repurposed timber from old cabinetry. The terrazzo work surface in the open studio area was made of rubble from the building site, while other plastic surfaces feature flecks of foil, being made from former yoghurt pots, an echo of the museum’s zero landfill policy.

Playful elements dispersed throughout the space support the reimagined experience of Young V&A as a place that celebrates innovation. New interactive displays enable children to act on the inspiration they take from the collections around them and to work and play with others to realise their ideas. The redesigned museum architecture is the result of an ambitious collaborative design process to ensure that the museum reflects its diverse audiences in its objects, stories, and spaces.

Since the museum's opening on July 1, certain materials (two books from sale in its shop and a poster from its Design Gallery), deemed inappropriate by the Museum staff for its core age group of 0–14-year-olds were removed. This move was characterized as censorship of LGBTQ+ lives under Section 28 (British legislation). Since the removal and consequent uproar, the V&A’s director Tristram Hunt, along with the institution’s LGBTQ+ working group met with representatives from the PCS Union to discuss the concerns raised. In a statement released this week, the institution said it had listened to feedback and was working over the summer to provide age-appropriate replacements for the posters and books removed. A number of queer artists and designers have taken to social media to publicly denounce this move by the Young V&A and to ask others to boycott the institution until they provide a public apology for their actions.