Live. Work. Live–Work

This talk explores the relationship between living and working through a series of Russian For Fish's residential, workplace and life

Beginning with completed homes, we reflect on how domestic spaces are adapted to support contemporary patterns of living - often accommodating work in subtle and informal ways. Spare rooms become studies, thresholds become places of pause, and the home begins to absorb functions that were once external to it. We then turn to workplace interiors, considering how offices have, in turn, become more domestic: more flexible, more social, and more responsive to individual needs.

Drawing these strands together, the talk culminates at Ashby Mews — a series of live–work projects in Brockley, South London, that sit between the two. Here, lessons from both domestic and workplace design are brought into a single condition, where the boundaries between living and working are not fixed, but negotiated through space. Rather than prescribing separation, these projects explore how the two can coexist - overlapping, expanding and contracting over time.

In this context, flexibility becomes essential. The most successful live–work environments are those that allow different modes of occupation to sit alongside one another, adapting to the rhythms of both work and life.

An Ode to Ashby Mews is Russian For Fish’s contribution to Small Scale Big Ideas at the Building Centre. For the past twelve years, the practice has worked closely with the creative community of Ashby Mews to develop a series of live–work units that provide workshop space alongside living accommodation. The projects range from the careful adaptation of existing industrial buildings to the incremental infill of backland sites, contributing to the quiet densification of the neighbourhood.

Within the context of the exhibition, the work sits between process and community. It reflects on how small-scale, owner-occupied developments can support long-term stewardship, sustain local creative economies, and reinforce the value of neighbourhoods as places of both living and making. At a time when industrial land is being redeveloped and working patterns continue to shift, live–work offers an alternative model — one that is complementary to, rather than in opposition to, large-scale housing delivery.

Russian For Fish is an architecture and interiors practice founded in 2006 by Pereen d’Avoine and Nilesh Shah. The practice works across residential and commercial projects of varying scales, with a particular focus on the relationship between people and space. Their work is characterised by a careful use of materials, a sensitivity to context, and an interest in how spaces can support changing patterns of occupation over time.

Across both domestic and workplace projects, a consistent approach emerges: one that prioritises adaptability, clarity and a close engagement with how spaces are used. Live–work builds on this foundation, bringing together lessons from both into a single, hybrid condition.

If we are serious about retaining creativity across the capital and the country — about allowing people to build lives as well as livelihoods — then live–work must remain part of the conversation. It is not a new idea, but a quietly persistent one, with the potential to make a meaningful contribution to the way we live and work today.