This is a school, actually. A school with classes, workshops, and seminars ranging from writing to photography to cinema... also exhibitions, events, performances. GAH I wish I lived in Madrid! I would visit here nonstop.
Now for tourists, there's cafe on the 2nd floor. There's also a little outdoor area (in the centre of this building) where you can enjoy a coffee and study away. Apparently upstairs there's a patio but it's not always opened. This patio lets you see Lavapiés from above, and I hear it's nice. There are exhibitions as well, look at the dates on their website and the room number. These are opened during regular hours.
When La Casa Encendida closes, shows start at 10pm. I watched a dance/song comedy performance, you can buy tickets online or at the door. People start lining up early!
There is a lot happening and the staff expects you to do know what you're doing here, you can't aimlessly walk in and hope they'll guide you. They will not! I found my shows and exhibitions (as well as the room number) online, but the website is hard to navigate especially with Google Translate on.
You definitely need to do a bit of research before coming! They don't have shows or exhibitions all the time, hopefully they have something going on during the days you're in Madrid :) read more