---

The second phase of the V&A’s restoration and redesign programme, designed by Amanda Levete, opens this month

---

Words by Emily Martin

The second phase of the V&A’s restoration and redesign project, known as FuturePlan, sees its Exhibition Road project complete.

Opening this month, which will include a weeklong public festival REVEAL, it’s the V&A’s largest architectural scheme in the past 100 years and is designed by Stirling Prize-winning British architect Amanda Levete.

The project sees a previously inaccessible back-of-house space transformed to include a new 1,100 sq m underground gallery, which will present a world-class exhibition programme, all set within the beautiful historical facades on the west side of the V&A’s Grade I listed buildings. The new, large, column-free gallery, known as the Sainsbury Gallery, is one of the largest temporary exhibition galleries in the UK.

The new Sackler Courtyard features as part of the Exhibition Road project.

It is the world’s first porcelain-tiled courtyard, providing 1,200 sq m of public space to host installations and events, as well as a new cafe; both accessible through the new entrance on Exhibition Road.