Green light for V&A to expand underground

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has obtained planning permission to build its extension. The design, by the architect Amanda Levete, includes a new courtyard and entrance in Exhibition Road, a large underground temporary exhibition gallery and a link to the main building. Costs are £41m (up from last year’s estimate of £35m), of which the V&A has raised £25m. Building work starts next year and the extension is due to open in 2016. Meanwhile, in the main building, new furniture galleries are due to open in December.