The façade of London’s famed Victoria & Albert Museum has had a makeover, as a massive wooden installation is towering over a main entranceway. Created for the London Design Festival, Timber Wave is three-dimensional lattice spiral made of American red oak wood. Fully self-supporting, the structure rises 12m high. Visitors are invited to ‘walk through’ its circular form as they enter into the museum. The project was commissioned by AHEC (American Hardwood Export Council) and designed by architect Amanda Levete of AL_A. The wooden structure was constructed by Cowley Timberwork and engineered by Arup. ‘The V&A’s Cromwell Road entrance is vast, multi-layered and very ornamental,’ says David Venables, European director of AHEC. ‘The form responds to this with a single dynamic gesture in timber; the use of wood as a structural material is well documented at the V&A.’