Studio ZNA is proud to have delivered the lighting design for the Why We Make permanent galleries and front of house spaces at the new V&A East Museum, which opened its doors the public on 18 April at Stratford Waterfront. The museum is a key part of East Bank, the mayor of London’s £1.1bn cultural and education quarter designed to transform the former Olympic boroughs.

Our approach centres on using light to create a sense of welcome, dissolving thresholds between public realm and gallery spaces - so visitors feel like participants, not just observers in this new social space.

In Why We Make, spanning two floors and featuring over 500 objects from 60 nations, lighting helps shape a journey through creativity. Working alongside JA Projects and A Practice for Everyday Life, we developed a system inspired by East London’s streets and markets - using illuminated signage, light boxes and dynamic titles to guide visitors through a series of “neighbourhoods.”

Each object is individually considered, with lighting responding to its materiality, scale and conservation needs - from intimate moments to a broader reading of the collection as a whole. Be that the stunning Molly Goddard pink dress that greets you as you enter the gallery with it’s discreet showcase lighting allowing the object an immediacy and energy to the cardboard model of Derek Jarman’s opera sets, where the lighting encourages close up intimate viewing. The result is a layered, fluid environment that celebrates making, process and cultural connection.