Mackintosh’s Hill House Box by Carmody Groarke.

Built by renowned Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1902, the iconic Hill House has been encased in a scaffolding-like structure by Carmody Groarke. The London-based practice is currently undertaking efforts to restore the country home to its former glory, after over a century of being weathered by harsh winds and constant rain.

Carmody Groake likens the structure to a 20th-century Scottish tower house, with roughcast walls, slate roof, picturesque roofline, and asymmetrical windows. Though the design was clearly influenced by the picturesque Scottish Baronial style, Mackintosh also incorporated contemporary technological advances of Modernism being practised elsewhere in Europe at the time.

“This unusual hybridisation of tradition and invention in the construction of the building has led to some fundamental long-term problems of prolonged water damage that require a major conservation project to help the house survive,” explain the architects.

The radical restoration is estimated to take up to 15 years, so rather than obscure the landmark property from view for all that time, Carmody Groarke came up with the ‘big box’ solution. A pavilion-like structure made of stainless-steel chain-mail mesh encases Hill House, protecting it as an artifact within a temporary museum.

The cross-braced steel frame is designed to remain grounded with minimum impact on the existing terraced-garden landscape, and delicate enough to allow uninterrupted views to and from the landscape and the house.

The solution not only maintains access to the house for visitors but also provides a basic drying room shelter while the original water damaged structure is carefully repaired. Providing first-hand public insight to the conservation process, an elevated walkway loops around and over Hill House at high levels, allowing views of the house from all around and above.

See other projects by Carmody Groarke on Yellowtrace here.

[Images courtesy of Carmody Groarke. Photography © Johan Dehlin.]