Hackney Space Centre

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The Hackney SPACe Sports Centre, (Sport and Performing Arts Centre) is actually called SPACe (note the upper and lowercase letter arrangement). It's a Time Out Magazine Award Winning Leisure Centre in Hackney, London, England.

SPACe is part of Hackney Community College (see Hackney College) and was opened in February 2001 following grants from Sport England on the basis that it would become the venue for Centres of Excellence in Basketball, Netball and Cricket. Its main hall (recently dedicated to the late Malcolm Williams, whose work and vision were instrumental in getting SPACe built) can accommodate a range of indoor sports, and was the home venue in 2006/07 for the professional basketball team London United, who moved there from Brunel University in 2006. United are currently the highest ranked team from the Capital, and are London's only representatives in the top-flight British Basketball League.

SPACe is also home to Hackney Community College Basketball Academy and Cricket Academy programmes. It is also home to many basketball teams that play in the London Metropolitan Basketball League (LMBL), the largest regional basketball league in the UK. SPACe also has a gym / weights facility housing Olympic free weights and CV equipment as well as 3 dance studios. One of these has been named after the late Margaret Shepherd, who was highly respected for her work in teaching and developing performing arts at the nearby Hoxton Hall.

The main hall has tiered seating for around 600 people. SPACe is managed by Lee Perkins who has been instrumental in the sporting development of the centre together with a tight group of dedicated staff.