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London’s V&A Museum has been granted planning permission for a £41m redevelopment project, which will include a new underground gallery beneath Exhibition Road in South Kensington.

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The approved design by architecture practice AL_A will also feature a redesigned courtyard space and a new entrance from the recently landscaped Exhibition Road on the museum's west side.

The V&A says it is enjoying record numbers of visitors and that this redevelopment project will help it sustain increased visitor numbers.

The scheme will transform a previously inaccessible back-of-house space into an open courtyard, which will be used for installations, events and a cafe.

The project will also reveal the original Victorian facades on the west side of the V&A's Grade I listed buildings. They have been restored to their former glory but never before been on public view.

Some £25m of funding has been secured for the project so far.

Enabling work will begin this autumn to divert services within the site, and building work is planned to start in 2013. The new gallery is set to open to the public in 2016.
amandalevetearchitects.com