Troxy can host conferences, awards ceremonies, product launches, screenings, concerts and private celebrations for up to 3,100 guests in its main hall. The venue is a Grade II listed former cinema at 490 Commercial Road in Stepney, East London, about six minutes on foot from Limehouse DLR station.
Seminars and company events
Troxy suits large corporate occasions that need a stage, full production and one room that holds the whole audience. The venue lists awards ceremonies, product launches, film screenings, book launches, Christmas parties and red carpet premieres among the events it hosts, alongside concerts. Each booking is given an allocated events manager, who plans the event with the client and coordinates it on the night.
Production is handled in-house, with audio-visual and technical teams who know the building, and a list of approved suppliers for anything else the client needs. The team also helps with travel and hotel information for guests coming from outside London. Past events presented by the venue include an evening for the RSPB, the nature charity, and the Youth Music Awards.
Rooms and capacities
The main hall is the core of the venue: an Art Deco auditorium with a stage and a green room. The venue gives its capacity as 3,100 guests on its discovery pages, while its venue specifications page quotes 3,600, so organizers should confirm the figure for their layout, standing or seated, when they request the technical specifications and the hire brochure. A virtual tour on the website gives a first look before a site visit, and an access guide sets out arrangements for guests with reduced mobility.
Catering
Troxy runs its own bars. Outside food and drink are not allowed at public shows, so food and drinks for a private event are planned with the events team and the venue's approved suppliers.
History and setting
Troxy opened as a cinema on September 11, 1933, with King Kong as its first film. The architect George Coles designed it for Hyams & Gale Kinemas on the site of the former Commercial Brewery in Stepney, and with room for 3,500 people it was then the largest cinema in England. The cinema closed in 1960. From 1963 to 1978 the London Opera Centre occupied the building and the Royal Opera House rehearsed here, then used it for storage for about 14 years.
The building was listed Grade II in 1991 and became a bingo hall in 1992, which closed in 2005. After a short refurbishment it reopened as a live events venue in 2006. The original organ did not survive, but a Wurlitzer moved from the Trocadero at Elephant and Castle was installed later, and its restoration was celebrated in 2015.
Getting there
The address is 490 Commercial Road, London E1 0HX. Limehouse station on the DLR is 400 meters away, about six minutes on foot from the Bekesbourne Street exit. Shadwell on the London Overground (Windrush line) is about 15 minutes' walk. From Canary Wharf, on the Elizabeth and Jubilee lines, guests take the DLR to Limehouse. The venue advises against driving: Commercial Road has red lines and vehicles may be ticketed or towed. Drop-off and pick-up are possible on Caroline Street, along the side of the building, which helps for speakers, equipment and guests arriving by taxi.
