The world’s largest museum of applied and decorative arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, is the custodian of nearly 3 million pieces spanning 5000 years of history. Only about 2 per cent of that is on display at any one time in the five-hectare, 145-gallery institution, but that’s still 60,000 articles. As of May 31, however, V&A East Storehouse opened in London’s Stratford. The cavernous four-storey space in the new cultural quarter at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (the complex originally built for the 2012 London Olympics) is large enough for the display of large-scale pieces and pop-up surprise curations and will offer visitors changing displays and extraordinary experiences. It will also give museum-goers a kind of backstage view, as staff perform conservation work, process new acquisitions and package pieces that are to go out on loan. A highlight of the Storehouse’s innovative approach is the Order an Object service, whereby anyone can book in advance to see any object they like from the collection, seven days a week.