It’s a fact of life: The proliferation of laptops, smart phones, tablets, and Wi-Fi means more people are working almost 24 hours a day. It makes sense, then, that every dwelling also has a dedicated office, or at least space where work gets done. Some people take things even further by working out of their homes full time.

Just because you're working from home doesn't mean your work area has to be boring or conventional. For example, the late architect Stephen Kanner, FAIA, designed for Los Angeles-based clients a freestanding home office building inspired by a neighboring tree house.

On the other hand, Seattle-based Tyler Engle Architects turned a former storefront into a home for his clients, but he included two offices—one that can be accessed from inside the main living spaces for the wife, a personal assistant, and another for the husband, a real estate and software developer, accessed by going outside.

Of course, more architects have personal insight into setting up offices at home since the Great Recession, during which their unemployment rate doubled, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Whether out of necessity, frugality, or desire, architects occupy some of the coolest live/work spaces. And they can be found in a variety of unconventional locations and in myriad permutations. For instance, Portland, Maine-based Carol De Tine, AIA,  located her workspace in an 1854 brick and sandstone carriage house, and Sagan Piechota Architecture’s home/office encompasses a 6,000-square-foot former bakery.

Like to see more? Here are some other live/work spaces we find inspiring.