Donald Insall, Architect Who Restored Windsor Castle, Dies at 100

Donald Insall, the architect who led the restoration of Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire, has died at the age of 100. His studio announced his death in a statement, closing a career that spanned more than six decades and reshaped how England treats its old buildings.

Insall wasn't a preservationist, and he wanted that distinction understood. As his studio put it in its statement: "Preservation he said is 'what you do for marmalade'." Keeping a building frozen in its original state, the statement explained, was preservation's aim.

Insall took a different path. His studio described him as a "pioneering conservationist" who believed old buildings should keep working. "Conservation means working with old buildings, streets and towns in ways that allow them to live on usefully and delightfully for new uses when and where appropriate and for future generations," Donald Insall Associates said.

What did Insall actually build (and save)?

Born in Bristol on 7 February 1926, Insall founded his eponymous practice in 1958 with Peter Locke and chaired it until 1998. The studio's project list reads like a map of England's heritage:

• Wotton House, an 18th-century baroque house in Buckinghamshire, saved from demolition in 1957
• Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, William Morris's home
• The historic city centre of Chester
• Windsor Castle in Berkshire, restored after the 1992 fire
• Kedleston Hall and other National Trust-era properties

The Chester study did more than catalogue old facades. Insall's team visited more than four hundred buildings in the city, and the work led to the creation of conservation officers by local councils across England. Insall was also a founding commissioner of the English Heritage charity.

A method built on friendship

Insall's approach to historic buildings was, by his own account, almost sociable. The way to get the best results, he believed, was to "try to make friends" with them.

"I think that as a result of our experience over the years," he said, "we have developed a method that we feel is a wise one. We always try to make friends with the building itself, but also with its current users, so that both their respective needs can be met."

The next step was documentary. "We prepare a life story of the building, and from there we assess the building's positive aspects," Insall continued. "We also take a look at its less successful features and see how these can be helped. However, the important thing is to take a positive approach to the project."

A book the King endorsed

His book Living Buildings, first printed in 2008 and reprinted in 2018, carried a foreword by King Charles, then Prince of Wales. The King wrote that Insall had been "deeply involved, not just as a tireless practitioner, but in mentoring and inspiring others" in heritage and architectural conservation.

Insall's training began in 1942 at the Royal West of England Academy School of Architecture, followed by civic design at the Royal Academy Schools and the School of Planning in London. Before founding his own studio, he worked at London practice Phillimore and Jenkins, which restored and designed country houses.

What does this change for conservation today?

The studio Insall built carries on without him. Donald Insall Associates' recent work includes the renovation of a Grade II-listed Oxford college library with Nex and the renovation of the "deconstructed" Hardwick Old Hall ruin in Derbyshire. The practice's continued output suggests his core idea — that old buildings earn their keep by staying useful — will outlast its author.