V&A East, STRATFORD WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT

The V&A developed a major presence over two sites in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of a new Cultural and Educational District in East London which is the largest cultural development the UK has seen in generations. The ambitious project brings together anchor institutions like the V&A East, University College London, London College of Fashion, BBC Music and Sadler's Wells, as well as 600 new homes, retail and community spaces. The V&A East consists of a world class Exhibitions Centre and a Collections Research Centre.

Lord Cultural Resources was engaged to act as a “Critical Friend” to ensure that the V&A East business case was realistic and accurate. Our team, led by Javier Jimenez, provided an independent review of projections, financial expenses and revenue for a period of 15 years from opening day, and provided input as required on areas such as: ramp up costs leading to opening, the staffing model and partnership arrangements.

Our analysis included a thorough data review for over 20 comparables, as well as research on the local market to understand visitation trends and usage of the different cultural facilities in the cluster. Our team also analyzed how the two new sites could interact within the entire Park development, how to enhance cross-visitation between the two sites, as well as with the other cultural venues, some of which will offer joint opportunities for programming, events, educational activities, and marketing.

As a result of this work, our contract was expanded twice to provide a new financial model for V&A East and for V&A South Kensington, including projections that will be more resilient to changes in the long term.