Cany Ash studied at Cambridge and the University of Westminster. She worked very briefly for a dozen architecture practices in London, Berlin and New York. In 1994 together with Robert Sakula she founded Ash Sakula Architects.
Ash Sakula has established a reputation for working in unpromising sites and creating strong identities for places with mixed public and private clients. The practice is passionate about reusing existing space intelligently, passive technologies, and innovative construction.

Current projects restaurants and flats on Deptford Station market in London, a prototype called the Eco Terrace in Hampshire, housing and shops on the Ouseburn River in Newcastle, the International Writer’s Centre in Norwich, inventing a new neighbourhood around manufacturing on the banks of the Wye in Chepstow and a creative hub in Colchester.

The practice champions new ideas for the public realm under its sister companyadaptableneighbourhoods.com arguing against casual blight, strong support for street markets and experiemental approaches to public space.  winning proposal The Caravanserai in Canning Town which won the Meanwhile London competition is a scalable pilot project looking at how public space might be more active. The project on the current site will run until March 2017 and is run as a social enterpirse hosted by volunteers initating a range of projects, informal markets, communal eating, food growing, construction, cycle repairs, and performance.

Cany is a RIBA Research Awards panel member and an external examiner to Central Saint Martins MA in Narrative Environments.