diff --git a/src/lazy.jl b/src/lazy.jl
index e3d91bcd..7efc7fa4 100644
--- a/src/lazy.jl
+++ b/src/lazy.jl
@@ -100,3 +100,9 @@ function Base.showarg(io::IO, s::LazyRows{T}, toplevel) where T
     showfields(io, Tuple(components(s)))
     toplevel && print(io, " with eltype LazyRow{", T, "}")
 end
+
+# "materialize" / "evaluate"
+function Base.convert(::Type{T}, c::LazyRow{T}) where {T}
+    columns, index = getfield(c, 1), getfield(c, 2)
+    columns[index...]
+end
diff --git a/src/structarray.jl b/src/structarray.jl
index a2f5afb9..a19b9c49 100644
--- a/src/structarray.jl
+++ b/src/structarray.jl
@@ -348,24 +348,63 @@ function Base.view(s::StructArray{T, N, C}, I...) where {T, N, C}
     StructArray{T}(map(v -> view(v, I...), components(s)))
 end
 
-Base.@propagate_inbounds function Base.setindex!(s::StructArray{<:Any, <:Any, <:Any, CartesianIndex{N}}, vals, I::Vararg{Int, N}) where {N}
+"""
+By default, this package behave just as `<:Base.AbstractArray` in terms of `convert`.
+It does not do any "structural" conversion.
+Exceptions include `NamedTuples`.
+"""
+struct Structural{T}
+    _::T
+end
+
+maybe_structural(x) = x
+
+# this exception needs to be removed to comply with `AbstractArray`
+maybe_structural(x::NamedTuple) = Structural(x)
+
+function Base.convert(T, vals::Structural)
+    # TODO more efficient
+    s = StructVector{T}(undef, 0)
+    foreachfield(push!, s, vals._)
+    only(s)
+end
+
+Base.@propagate_inbounds function Base.setindex!(s::StructArray{T, <:Any, <:Any, CartesianIndex{N}}, vals, I::Vararg{Int, N}) where {T, N}
+    setindex!(s, convert(T, maybe_structural(vals)), I...)
+end
+
+Base.@propagate_inbounds function Base.setindex!(s::StructArray{T, <:Any, <:Any, Int}, vals, I::Int) where {T}
+    setindex!(s, convert(T, maybe_structural(vals)), I)
+end
+
+Base.@propagate_inbounds function Base.setindex!(s::StructArray{T, <:Any, <:Any, CartesianIndex{N}}, vals::T, I::Vararg{Int, N}) where {T, N}
     @boundscheck checkbounds(s, I...)
     foreachfield((col, val) -> (@inbounds col[I...] = val), s, vals)
     s
 end
 
-Base.@propagate_inbounds function Base.setindex!(s::StructArray{<:Any, <:Any, <:Any, Int}, vals, I::Int)
+Base.@propagate_inbounds function Base.setindex!(s::StructArray{T, <:Any, <:Any, Int}, vals::T, I::Int) where {T}
     @boundscheck checkbounds(s, I)
     foreachfield((col, val) -> (@inbounds col[I] = val), s, vals)
     s
 end
 
-function Base.push!(s::StructVector, vals)
+function Base.push!(s::StructVector{T}, vals) where {T}
+    push!(s, convert(T, maybe_structural(vals)))
+end
+
+function Base.push!(s::StructVector{T}, vals::T) where T
     foreachfield(push!, s, vals)
     return s
 end
 
 function Base.append!(s::StructVector, vals::StructVector)
+    # TODO, more efficient implementation
+    foldl(push!, vals; init = s)
+    return s
+end
+
+function Base.append!(s::StructVector{T}, vals::StructVector{T}) where T
     foreachfield(append!, s, vals)
     return s
 end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index f9baf42e..56d60b43 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -809,3 +809,46 @@ Base.similar(bc::Broadcast.Broadcasted{Broadcast.ArrayStyle{MyArray}}, ::Type{El
     s = StructArray{ComplexF64}((MyArray(rand(2,2)), MyArray(rand(2,2))))
     @test_throws MethodError s .+ s
 end
+
+# define two types that are "structurally" equivalent:
+struct Foo1
+    x::Int
+    y::Int
+end
+
+struct Foo2
+    x::Int
+    y::Int
+end
+
+# but not otherwise interchangeable:
+Base.convert(::Type{Foo1}, v::Foo2) = Foo1(-v.x, v.x + v.y)
+# Base.convert(::Type{Foo2}, v::Foo1) = Foo2(-v.x, v.y + v.x)
+
+# should_be_identity(v::Foo1) = convert(Foo1, convert(Foo2, v))
+# should_be_identity(v::Foo2) = convert(Foo2, convert(Foo1, v))
+
+function check_setindex!_convert(TArray)
+    a = TArray{Foo1}(undef, 1)
+    a[1] = Foo2(1, 2)
+    a[1] == Foo1(-1, 3)
+end
+
+function check_push!_convert(TArray)
+    a = TArray{Foo1}(undef, 0)
+    push!(a, Foo2(1, 2))
+    a[1] == Foo1(-1, 3)
+end
+
+@testset "convert on setindex!/push!" begin
+    # check behavior of `Base.Array`
+    @test check_setindex!_convert(Array)
+    @test check_push!_convert(Vector)
+
+    @test check_setindex!_convert(StructArray)
+    @test check_push!_convert(StructVector)
+
+    soa = StructVector{Foo1}(undef, 0)
+    append!(soa, StructVector([Foo2(1, 2)]))
+    @test soa[1] == Foo1(-1, 3)
+end