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A former record store in Camden Town has been renovated by London studio Russian For Fish as a family home shaped by distinct colors, a concealed cinema screen and a private garden view. Architect Pereen d’Avoine says the design preserves the building’s history while making room for modern living, including a dark, intimate ground-floor space.
London design studio Russian For Fish has renovated a narrow former record store in Camden into a family home with distinct color schemes, a dark and intimate ground-floor room, and a view through to a private garden. Architect and studio co-director Pereen d’Avoine said the project was designed to retain traces of the building’s shopfront past while adapting it for everyday domestic life.
In its report, Livingetc describes a sequence of rooms that moves from an aquamarine kitchen and granite-toned informal area to a citrine living room, a mint-colored dining room and a white bedroom. The palette gives each part of the narrow house a distinct character, while the designers used restrained furnishings and natural materials to keep the rooms connected.
The entrance preserves a sense of the building’s former retail use. D’Avoine said the team wanted to retain some of the experience of entering a record shop, including the feeling of curiosity about what might be found inside. Frosted glazing in the shopfront bay provides privacy and obscures the view from the street into the rest of the house, the architect said.
The ground-floor room is deliberately dark and enclosed, while the kitchen beyond introduces lighter, fresher color and a long view toward the garden. Elsewhere, the renovation incorporates a projection screen concealed in a partition between two first-floor sitting rooms. According to d’Avoine, it can be lowered for film nights without changing the rooms’ architectural appearance when not in use.
Color Helps Define the Narrow Home
The project offers a specific example of how a narrow existing building can be reorganized without removing every trace of its previous use. Its shopfront entrance, hidden screen and room-by-room palette address different needs: privacy at the street, flexibility for family life and a clear sense of progression through the house.
D’Avoine’s account also challenges the assumption that a compact ground-floor room must be made as pale as possible to feel usable. She said the team’s experience with the dark palette was positive, describing the room as a place to settle in rather than an area that feels closed off. That is the designer’s assessment, not a measured finding about how the color affects all narrow interiors.
The renovation is relevant to owners of older urban homes because it shows how design choices can respond to existing character instead of treating it as an obstacle. In this house, the concealed cinema equipment avoids a permanent visual change, and the former shop entrance informs the layout rather than being erased.
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From Camden Shopfront to Family Rooms
The building once operated as a record store, according to Livingetc. The report does not provide the shop’s name, its years of operation or a detailed account of the property’s condition before work began. It describes the house as tall and narrow and says the renovation sought to balance the building’s historic character with contemporary domestic use.
Russian For Fish is a London architecture and design practice led by d’Avoine and Nilesh Shah. The report says the studio works across architecture and interiors, including the transformation of existing buildings. Its approach here combines bespoke features with reclaimed and new furniture, according to d’Avoine, rather than furnishing every room to a single uniform style.
The reported details focus on the design and the architect’s explanation of its intentions. The source does not identify the homeowner or provide project cost, planning history or construction dates, so those details cannot be established from the account.
“We wanted to retain something of the experience of entering a record shop.”
— Pereen d’Avoine, architect and co-director of Russian For Fish
Project Details Not Reported
The available report does not state when the renovation took place, how long it lasted, what it cost or whether any planning or conservation requirements applied. It also does not identify the property’s owners or establish the former record store’s history beyond its previous use.
Descriptions such as “magical,” “calm” and “atmospheric” reflect the designer’s intent and the publication’s presentation of the home; they are not independently verified outcomes. The source provides no floor plan, measurements or assessment of how the changes affect the building’s energy performance or long-term upkeep.
No Further Milestone Announced
Livingetc’s report presents the completed renovation and includes comments from the design studio, but it does not announce a future construction phase, public opening or follow-up project milestone. The next development, if any, has not been specified in the source material.
For readers looking to apply ideas from the house, the reported design principles are to preserve useful traces of the building’s past, use color to distinguish connected rooms and consider privacy at the street-facing entrance. Whether those choices suit another home will depend on its layout, light and the needs of its occupants.
Key Questions
What was the Camden townhouse before it became a home?
It was a record store, according to Livingetc. The report does not name the shop or give its operating dates.
Who designed the renovation?
The project was designed by Russian For Fish, a London architecture and design studio led by Pereen d’Avoine and Nilesh Shah. D’Avoine discussed the design in the Livingetc report.
What is distinctive about the ground floor?
The entrance opens into a dark, richly colored room with frosted shopfront glazing for privacy. Moving toward the kitchen reveals brighter colors and a view through to the garden, according to d’Avoine.
How does the house support film nights?
A projection screen is concealed in a partition between two first-floor sitting rooms and can be lowered for viewing, d’Avoine said.
When was the renovation completed, and what did it cost?
The Livingetc report does not give a completion date or project cost. Those details remain unreported in the available source material.
Source: rss
