Picture from the opening weekend of the Sugarhouse Studios in Stratford. It is an arty temporary cinema near to the Olympic site. Credit to Assemble please

An abandoned building set for demolition after the Olympics is currently enjoying a fresh lease of life as a cinema.

Picture from the opening weekend of the Sugarhouse Studios in Stratford. It is an arty temporary cinema near to the Olympic site. Credit to Assemble please. Resident chef Laura Marten and the lady holding up the vegetables is her sister and sous chef, Helen Marten.

Sugarhouse Studios has been set up in Stratford High Street to showcase the best in indie films and themed nights

It also offers a casual Sunday cinema and supper club.

The site is a former sign-writers workshop and has now been taken on by the community interest firm Assemble, which is made up of designers and architects.

The front half of the building has 50 handmade seats, put together by a team of 100 volunteers, including a cafe and bar space.

The remaining part contains Assemble’s studio and a large open-plan workshop for small scale design, furniture making, and an event space for up to 200 people.

The project has been supported by the London Legacy Development Corporation. The publicly-funded body granted Assemble £49,000 in its previous guise as the Olympic Park Legacy Company.

Chief executive Andrew Altman said: “We want to spread the benefits of regeneration from the Olympic Park to the surrounding area through creative, community-based projects like the new cinema at Sugarhouse Studios

“This is a great example of how forgotten parts of east London are being used as opportunities to bring people together.”

Highlights of its first few weeks include a screening of McCabe and Mrs Miller, The Elephant Man, and Midnight Cowboy.

Sugarhouse Studios has also featured Q&As with directors, and Russian and Italian food nights.

A spokesman for Assemble said Stratford residents interested in hosting events or using the workshop could drop in or call.

She said: “We are really delighted to be here in the Sugarhouse Lane area at a time of such rapid physical and economic change.

“We hope we can make a positive contribution to people who live and work locally during this moment of transition, and also inform and become part of the area’s future.”

The land will be handed over to LandProp in January 2013, when work will start to turn it into a residential and business neighbourhood.