Arts & Civic

Victoria and Albert Museum Main Entrance

Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, London

PRS has carried out several projects at the V&A as part of the museum's FuturePlan, including the Main Entrance on Cromwell Road,  the Glass Gallery, Contemporary Glass Gallery, Textile Reference Collection, Leighton Exhibition, Secretariat Block, Temporary Exhibition Galleries, South-East Asian Study Rooms, Masterplan 1994-98. 

Main entrance
The main entrance to the V&A on the Cromwell Road has been transformed by the creation of a new entrance suitable for disabled visitors. There were many heritage issues to contend with, as this is a Grade I listed building, extensive discussions took place with English Heritage, who were both helpful and supportive of the proposal.

The scheme takes the form of a gentle radius and the steps merge into the slopes with a tapering stone detail. The entrance has been considerably expanded in area allowing a much more generous approach to the Museum and creating a gathering place in front of the doors. The Museum’s brief was to provide a graceful entrance where disabled access formed an integral part of the design and would be used by all members of the public. The Museum also wanted to create a place where people could meet and congregate. It was important that the steps became one of the meeting places on the London scene. 

The steps and slopes are made from Shirehill sandstone with fibre-optic lighting set behind glass risers both illuminating the Museum at night and providing lighting to the treads. The main entrance was kept operational throughout the works.

Client Name
Victoria and Albert Museum
£760,000
1991
2004
Consultants
Alan Baxter & Associates (Structural Engineers)
SVM Consulting Engineers (Building Services Engineer)
Arup
DHA Design
In the press
Victoria & Albert Museum - Terence Conran On Design
Victoria & Albert Museum - Suddenly it all became clear
Victoria & Albert Museum - Glass-fancier's feast illuminates 4,000 years
Victoria & Albert Museum - Glass Gallery
Awards
Kensington & Chelsea Environment Award Scheme 2002

V&A Future Plan Publication

Cromwell Road  entrance and museum signage

V&A FuturePlan is all about improving physical and intellectual access to the museum. One of the earliest projects was to create step-free access from the pavement into the building itself. Pringle Richards Sharratt inserted gently sweeping ramps on either side of new, generously widened steps to allow easy access into the museum for all visitors. Inside, the grand entrance and dome were also improved to create a brighter, more welcoming arrival point for visitors.

Another important early FuturePian project was the design and deployment of a new wayfinding system, designed by Holmes Wood. The V&A's vast estate is labyrinthine, with a complicated arrangement of spaces that are notoriously hard to navigate. lt has 140 galleries, three visitor entrances, seven floors and 26 flights of stairs and lifts.

Holmes Wood's challenge was to establish a single unifying language for all the museum's spaces, which could be extended as the museum developed. They created a disciplined and simple identification system comprising banners and room numbers for galleries and pictograms for services such as lifts, shops and toilets. The solution also included a new printed map, which guides visitors to highlights as well as to all the collections and services, using the same visual vocabulary as the signs. There are few spaces within the V&A that are not display areas, so the approach had to be both sensitive and authoritative.  (pp 18-19)

Designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt

Refurbishment completed: 2001, Area: 410m2, Engineers: Alan Baxter & Associates, Lighting: PRS, Project Manager: Bovis Lend Lease, Awards: Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Design 2002 Award, Signage design: Holmes Wood, Cost: £760,000.

V&A FuturePlan Publication - Main Entrance
V&A FuturePlan Publication - Main Entrance
V&A Main Entrance299.28 KB
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