Mega-fans of the musical legend David Bowie will have no choice but to… just dance. The V&A in London has announced that next fall it will open a new David Bowie Centre, where it will showcase the highlights from the singer’s enormous personal archives that it acquired last year.
The center opens on September 13, 2025 and will be part of the new V&A East Storehouse, a vast free attraction in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park that partially opens to the public on May 31. It will provide unprecedented access to a museum collection of epic proportion that is particularly rich in beloved pop cultural treasures from across the decades.
Other highlights set to go on permanent display include items relating to artists like Elton John, P.J. Harvey, and the Sex Pistols, as well as fashion pieces from retro stores like Biba and major houses like Balenciaga and Schiaparelli.
Items from the David Bowie Archive are prepared ahead of the David Bowie Centre opening at V&A East Storehouse on 13 September 2025. Photo: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The V&A acquired David Bowie’s Archive of some 90,000 items in 2023, becoming custodians of priceless mementos like handwritten lyrics and letters, original costumes and clothes, and stage-worn instruments and props. These will be presented in a curated fashion, but elsewhere visitors can embark on self-directed independent research in study area, delving through personal notes, sketches, designs, and lyrics relating to Bowie’s six-decade career.
The singer’s estate released a statement saying, “with David’s life’s work becoming part of the U.K.’s national collections, he takes his rightful place amongst many other cultural icons and artistic geniuses.”
Internal render view showing the David Bowie Centre in V&A East Storehouse. Image: © IDK.
The V&A East Storehouse will house over 250,000 objects and 350,000 books over four levels in a complex measuring a whopping 170,000 square foot. Unlike a traditional museum, where the visitor’s experience is defined by a curated program, this new space was designed by architects Diller, Scofidio + Renfro with the aim of encouraging independent discovery.
This is exemplified by the launch of the museum’s groundbreaking “Order an Object” service, which runs seven days a week. By booking in advance online, members of the public from students to hobbyists and enthusiasts can access objects from the collection onsite, all for free.
“Through V&A East Storehouse, visitors will be encouraged to immerse themselves in the magical behind-the-scenes world of museums and empowered to make their own journeys through the V&A’s global collections,” said the V&A’s deputy director and COO, Tim Reeve. “Our world-first ‘Order an Object’ experience opens up the V&A’s collections to everyone on their own terms, and on a scale never possible before. We hope this will shift the dial in creating more transparent and personalised experiences.”
Items from the David Bowie Archive are prepared ahead of the David Bowie Centre opening at V&A East Storehouse on 13 September 2025. Photo: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The mammoth space will also allow for the display of items from the V&A’s collection that have not been seen by the public for decades due to their size. These include the 1930s Kaufmann Office, a 15th century gilt wood ceiling preserved from the Torrijos Palace in Spain, an ornate 17th century colonnade from a bathhouse in the Mughal fort of Agra, and a complete interior by Frank Lloyd Wright, the only to exist outside of the U.S.
As well as these items of great international import, will be examples of cultural heritage from closer to home. The many communities of craftspeople who have historically populated east London will be celebrated in dedicated displays.
Items from the David Bowie Archive are prepared ahead of the David Bowie Centre opening at V&A East Storehouse on 13 September 2025. Photo: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
“Opening up access to our cultural assets for people from all backgrounds is very important to this Government, so I’m thrilled that V&A East Storehouse will open next year,” said the U.K.’s arts minister Sir Chris Bryant. “With more of our national collections on display, its unique and personalised experience will allow more people to better understand the rich creative heritage of our country.”
V&A East Storehouse will partially open to the public on May 31, 2025. The David Bowie Centre will open on September 13, 2025.