The Handbag Factory is a London venue for conferences, corporate events, brand activations and exhibitions, with two gallery spaces that hold 400 and 300 guests. It stands at 3 Loughborough Street, between Vauxhall and Kennington in SE11, and is run by ASC, a charity that provides affordable workspace to artists and makers. For larger events, all three galleries on site can be booked together, including the ASC Gallery.
Seminars and company events
The venue lists conferences and corporate events among the formats it hosts, next to brand activations, product and brand showcases, fashion shows, book launches and charity auctions. Gallery space suits a product launch, a client reception, a staff gathering or a showcase where the room itself is part of the display. Both galleries have generous wall space, and Gallery One can be fitted with modular exhibition partitions to add more. The larger room has steel-framed windows and receives plenty of natural light.
The official pages do not describe seminar layouts such as theatre or classroom seating, and they do not list audiovisual equipment. Ask for both when you enquire, together with the hours the space can be used and the time allowed for setup.
Rooms and capacities
Gallery One is the main hire gallery. It covers 1,835 square feet and takes up to 400 people. The floor plan is open and the steel-framed windows bring in daylight. Gallery Two is located in the atrium of the building. It covers 800 square feet, has a high ceiling and plenty of wall space, and holds up to 300 people. Both galleries have been recently renovated.
A third space, the ASC Gallery, runs its own programme of public contemporary art exhibitions next door. For larger and special events, the venue offers a bespoke booking that covers all three galleries, ASC Gallery included. The venue gives one capacity figure per room and does not say whether it counts standing or seated guests, so confirm the layout you need before you commit.
History and setting
ASC has supported artists and makers in London since 1995. It describes itself as a leading provider of affordable workspace for the creative sector, and it offers training, mentoring and grant funding alongside studios, coworking and exhibition space. The Handbag Factory is its base. The building also houses coworking and desk members and the facilities of Bainbridge Print Studio, so an event here takes place inside a working creative community.
Hiring a gallery contributes to the charity's mission of providing affordable workspace, which some organisations value when they report on where their event budget goes. The area around Vauxhall and Kennington has several other art venues within a few minutes of the building, including Gasworks, Beaconsfield, Cabinet Gallery and Newport Street Gallery.
Getting there
The venue names two station groups: Vauxhall on the Victoria line, and Kennington and Oval on the Northern line. The address is 3 Loughborough Street, London SE11 5RB. Guests arriving from outside London will usually reach one of these stations by a change onto the Underground.
