V&A Gilbert Galleries - a sustainable and accessible gallery experience

FuturePlan at the V&A is a programme of design-led initiatives, which are continually reinventing the V&A. The FuturePan aims to welcome broad and diverse audiences to the museum and make collections more relevant for today and in the future. The reimagining of the Gilbert Galleries were an integral FuturePlan project and a large part of the broader vision for the South Kensington site.

Context 

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection has been in the care of the V&A since 2008, and in the UK since 1996. It comprises some of the most intricate objects ever made from a minute to a monumental scale. The ambition for the museum was to use the works to tell the story of the collection and how the Gilbert’s pioneered and protected these craft forms. The aim was also to address the major concern of museums today to educate about how our material culture is formed by increasing understanding of the origin of the Gilbert collection and its collectors. Each object has multiple stories to tell. 

Approach 

TEMPLO led the graphic design for the Gilbert Galleries, developing a cohesive visual and interpretive system for the museum’s permanent collection. 

The project was part of a major gallery redevelopment involving a large multidisciplinary team across architecture, engineering, exhibition design and interpretation.

We worked closely with Citizens Design Bureau (CDB) as lead designers alongside the wider 3D fit-out team, including MEP and structural engineers, conservation architects and access consultants. We also collaborated directly with the V&A’s curatorial, interpretation, project management and leadership teams throughout the process.

Using the V&A masterbrand, we established a flexible hierarchy and distinctive visual language tailored specifically to the Gilbert Galleries while remaining consistent with the broader museum experience.

Accessibility was central to the project from the outset. We worked within the V&A’s accessibility guidelines and incorporated feedback from engagement workshops with young people, disabled audiences and people living with dementia to help shape the interpretation strategy and graphic implementation throughout the galleries.

Sustainability was embedded throughout the design process. Alongside CDB, we established sustainability objectives focused on durability, repairability and material re-use. 

We also designed modular interpretation systems that could be easily updated, repaired or replaced by internal teams, supporting long-term use and operational flexibility across a minimum ten-year lifespan.

Delivering a complex cultural project through close multidisciplinary collaboration, accessibility-led design thinking and sustainable graphic design systems.