architectural practice
Donald Insall Associates, 1914
12 Devonshire Street, W1G 7AB
Historic buildings and places are a treasure trove of narratives. How does our built environment, both old and new, contribute to our sense of belonging? Explore the studio and pop-up exhibition at conservation architects and heritage consultants Donald Insall Associates, which is within a Grade II-listed Edwardian townhouse, built in 1914 to the designs of Sydney Tatchell.
Great Portland Street, Regent's Park
Bond Street, Marylebone
205, 453
Please note there are a few steps leading up to the building. A ramp can be made available via prior arrangement.
The exhibition is on the first floor of the building, which can be accessed via a lift.
Historic buildings and places are a treasure trove of narratives. How does our built environment, both old and new, contribute to our sense of belonging?
As guardians of historic buildings, conservationists and historians are at the forefront of not only prolonging the life of what exists but helping them evolve for a better future. It involves discovering lost stories by painstakingly studying a place's history, repairing the broken pieces and revealing forgotten stories.
Explore the pop-up exhibition at Donald Insall Associates, where you will find a collection of artefacts, records, samples and images that tell the story of places that might be hidden in plain sight.
12 Devonshire Street was built as a substantial private house just before WWI. The site was previously occupied by a late Georgian townhouse, built as part of the 18th-century development of the Marylebone area. According to records, this heavily altered townhouse was deemed too expensive to repair, so a new house and generous garden, more appealing to Edwardian elite taste, was commissioned.
The Builder, one of the foremost architectural magazines of the time, published plans for the two principal floors in March 1917. They show the ground floor much as you see it today, but without the central atrium. The hall was lit by windows leading onto a lightwell where the present lift and WCs are located. To the front was the drawing room, and at the rear, an inter-connected morning room and dining room overlooked the garden. A small lift ran down to the kitchen in the basement.
The first floor held three bedrooms, one with an en-suite dressing room and WC, and a workroom. The basement and second floors were not illustrated but would have housed service areas and accommodation for live-in servants.
The destruction of World War II meant that central London became a less attractive place for the wealthy to reside and in 1950 the building was converted to medical use.
On 3rd April 1958, a fire broke out in the rear room on the ground floor. The room was badly damaged, and the rest of the building suffered smoke and water damage.
When the lease was renewed, the house was described as having 20 good-sized rooms. On the first floor was a “door to a large roof terrace”.
It was then converted for use as the Chilean Embassy. The basement and second floors were subdivided to create self-contained flats. A lift was inserted into the old lightwell and a rear extension was built to the first and second floors creating a rectangular floor plan.
In the early years of the 21st century, 24 years after the building was listed Grade II for ‘special architectural and historic interest’, 12 Devonshire Street was restored and refurbished to equip it to meet the needs of the 21st century.
The old lightwell was used to install a modern lift and WCs on each floor. To bring light into the interior, a new atrium was created in the centre of the building. The loss of floorspace was offset by a discreet extension into the mansard roof, creating a third-floor office suite invisible from street level. The basement stair was reinstated, and on all floors unsympathetic room divisions were removed.
Guided tour
historical house, institution/profession, museum
Grade II* listed building with neoclassical portico. Highly decorated meeting rooms throughout the building with ceiling and wall mouldings, and artwork featuring Venus the Goddess of Love and the Greek Muses.
Robert and James Adam, 1776
Guided tour
theatre, concert/performance space, education
The Royal Academy of Music’s Susie Sainsbury Theatre and Angela Burgess Recital Hall project created two distinct, outstanding performance spaces for Britain’s oldest conservatoire. Designed by Ritchie Studio, the project was the winner of over 20 national and international awards including the RIBA London Building of the Year.
Ritchie Studio, 2018
Drop in / Family activity
institution/profession, education, gallery, health, library, museum, online
Striking, provocative and one of London’s few Grade I listed post-war buildings. As we celebrate 60 years since our unique building was opened we invite you to drop in, explore our archives, take a tour and more to discover this award-winning building from its modernist lines to dramatic interiors. See https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/event/open-house-festival-2024 for more.
Sir Denys Lasdun, 1964
