The entrance to the new V&A East Storehouse in Stratford is almost deliberately elusive. There is no fanfare, no grand architectural gesture, just a modest doorway tucked off a quiet street close to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. 

From the street, this repurposed corner of the former Olympic broadcast media centre could be mistaken for the back entrance to a distribution hub. Only a narrow staircase rising invitingly from the modest lobby hints that something unexpected lies beyond.

“There is no portico outside. There is no big formal entrance,” says Liz Diller, co-founder of Diller Scofidio + Renfro. “It’s very modest. You’re in a working building – not in a place that’s just heroic.”