Four fire engines and 21 firefighters and officers were called to a fire at a multiple-use building in Shelford Place, Hackney.
A laundry room was destroyed by fire. Thirty people left the building before the arrival of the Brigade.
The Brigade was called at 0037 and the fire was under control at 0135. Fire crews from Shoreditch, Stoke Newington, and Tottenham fire stations attended the scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.