For decades, much of its collection had been held at Blythe House, an Edwardian complex in west Kensington, shared with the British Museum and Science Museum. As far back as the 1970s, then V&A director Roy Strong had lobbied for greater public access to Blythe House. “We give agency to the public.”Collections Hall: The theatrical coreThe building is at its most striking in the central Collections Hall. Originally part of a Mughal bathhouse in India, it now sits on the ground floor, glimpsed through a glass panel in the floor of the Collections Hall. In this context, the V&A’s expansion within London – with both the Storehouse and the nearby V&A East Museum – risks appearing disconnected from the realities facing many regional museums.