V&A curators are afraid of the light

IT IS a striking feature of the V&A’S £55million extension: a shaft of light piercing the vast subterranean gallery.

There is only one snag. The curators are so terrified of the sun damaging their objects that they have refused to let the daylight in.

An oculus in the museum’s gleaming new courtyard allows light in. A team of architects painstakingly worked out where the rays would fall at any time, meaning a star exhibit could have its moment in the spotlight.

But Amanda Levete, the architect behind the Exhibition Road Quarter extension, spoke of her frustration that the feature has been covered up.

Visitors to the two shows held so far in the underground Sainsbury Gallery have walked through the room in near-darkness.

“Through the oculus we have calculated every hour of every day in every year so we know exactly where the light will fall, so if a curator chooses to work with this and put a piece or a sculpture that is fine with UV light there is this dramatic moment,” Levete told an audience at the Hay Festival.

“I am hoping in time that someone will be brave enough to use it.”

The ceiling of the 11,840 sq ft gallery is made of pleated steel plates, with gaps allowing the light to flood in. It was a major engineering challenge, and Levete constructed the gallery without columns to hold up the roof.