491 Gallery

[1] Taking its name from its street number, 491 Grove Green Road, the former factory was home to a community-led art organisation and served as an exhibition space for a diverse range of artists of different origins working in varied media.

The building, originally a factory, was later used as a storage space and warehouse for materials being used to construct the A12 that cuts through Leytonstone and the surrounding areas.

Unlike the rest of the surrounding buildings, it and the few neighbouring houses were not subject to compulsory purchase orders and demolition for the A12 site.

Within a month of their vacating the premises, the building was reoccupied by a group of artists,[5] who spent the next several years turning it into a community space.

[7] Following a fire in 2008,[8] the Vertigo building was rebuilt throughout by its residents, and in 2009 was decorated with an exterior mural of Hitchcock to add to the artistic tributes in the local area, such as the mosaics in the neighbouring Leytonstone Underground station.