Oval Space

Oval Space is a multi-purpose venue situated at The Oval, Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The venue is a couple of minutes walk from Cambridge Heath overground and adjacent to the now disused Bethnal Green gasholders . 
== The Space ==
It is 5000 square feet of space with several break-out rooms and terraces overlooking the decommissioned gas works. It has a smaller sister venue called the Pickle Factory on the opposite side of the pedestrianised Oval square managed by the same company.
The venue is available to be rented for a range of corporate functions, festivals and markets, TV and film shoots, music, arts and fashion events and more. The Oval Space has a capacity of 1000 persons and the Pickle Factory 200. 
It's address is 29-32 The Oval, E2 9DT (Oval Space) / 13-14 The Oval, E2 9DU (The Pickle Factory).
 
== History ==
The Oval Space opened as the venue it is today in April 2012 . The Pickle Factory was subsequently established three years later in October 2015 .
The Pickle Factory was once an operating pickle and chutney factory at the heart of the cockney industrial scape , before being renovated as a medical supplies storage unit before, most recently, being repurposed into the venue space it is today. 
The venue is situated in the The Oval square which is itself the product of 18th and 19th century urban design to create public gardens under the protection of the London Squares Preservation Act, 1931 https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/acts/london-squares-preservation-act-1931_, https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/leisure_and_culture/parks_and_open_spaces/History_of_parks_and_open_spaces.aspx_. The square was looked onto by the original 36 cottages and chapel built here .
== Events and Music == 
Oval Space has hosted a variety of events, including TEDX conferences, the London Craft Beer Festival four times, charity jumble sales for Oxfam as well as music events with numerous notable DJs and musicians. Some headline music acts that have performed have included Floating Points, Peggy Gou, Thom Yorke, Hot Chip, The Avalanches, Iggy azalea, a$aP Rocky, Jeff Mills, Nina Kraviz, Marcellus Pittman and Laurent Garnier Oval Space Brochure (.pdf). 
As the smaller venue, Pickle Factory tends to host more emerging artists but it's alumni includes the likes of Objekt, DJ Bon and Margaret Dygas. 
In 2018, Oval Space was recognised as a finalist in three categories at the London Venue Awards for: Most Versatile Venue, Best Venue With A View and Best Party Venue .
The Oval sqaure also hosts events, including the Oval Night Market which was inspired by New York street parties .
== Surrounding Area ==
=== The Bethnal Green Gas Rings === 
At the back of and towering over the venue and Oval square are two cylindrical gas rings, which were decommissioned in 2012 , . The smaller gas ring was built in 1866 and the larger in 1889, making them the second oldest gasometres in the world . They were constructed to contain the gas manufactured by the Shoreditch Gas Works built by the Imperial Gas Light & Coke Company in 1923, which once occupied the site now known as Haggerston Park . Just beyond The Oval, the dramatic gasometers are also visible from the towpath along Regents Canal, where their giant reflection is cast onto the water . 
=== The Bethnal Green Gas Rings Development ===
Their structure and distinct character has become synonymous to the area and it’s industrial history, hence why recent plans to develop them into housing blocks has caused significant controversy , (https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-council/planning-scheme-go-ahead-3673116_). Regardless, in September 2020 Tower Hamlets Council voted seven to one to approve the application for the rings to be redeveloped by St William Property Developers, a joint venture between Berkeley Group and the National Grid, into promedominelty luxury housing and a third for ‘affordable’ , https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/s172763/Marian%20Place.pdf. The rings will be removed from the site to be repaired, before being returned and filled in with the proposed circular residential tower blocks.
=== Co-operative Printing House, Calverts ===
The Oval also houses the co-operatively owned printing house Calverts, founded in 1977 , https://bookmachine.org/2019/08/06/working-together-the-calverts-design-and-printing-co-operative/. Calverts is a design, print and production housing that has a specialism in branding, content, web, publications and sustainable print .
=== RCCG Victory Centre ===
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Victory Centre is an functioning 
Church also situated in the The Oval, opposite Oval Space .