Visitor centre planned for Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 16 Oct, 13:02 · Archive

The National Trust for Scotland plans a new visitor centre at Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House in Helensburgh as part of a £20 million conservation and celebration project called Mackintosh Illuminated. The centre will feature interpretation and engagement facilities, a café and shop, and will be built on low-grade land currently used as a car park behind the main house.

The development is intended to provide permanent visitor facilities away from the house itself, supporting plans to eventually remove the protective structure known as the Hill House Box. The Box, completed in 2019, has shielded the building from the elements while allowing it to dry out and enabling conservation research. A planning application is due to be submitted to Argyll and Bute Council later this month by Scottish conservation architects LDN. An assessment found that no significant trees are expected to be displaced.

The Hill House was completed in 1902 and combines Charles Rennie Mackintosh's architectural designs with Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh's artworks. It currently attracts around 32,000 visitors a year. Earlier this year, the original Portland cement roughcast was removed from the house following five and a half months of specialist work, and the newly exposed walls are now being studied and tested to inform the next phase of conservation.

How it is being reported

• Visitor centre plans for house built by Glasgow's most famous architect kept in chain mail boxHill House in Helensburgh is an architectural marvel, built in 1902, which mixed Charles Rennie Mackintosh's designs with Margaret's artworks to create a stunning family home.Glasgow Live · 16 Oct, 12:32
• New visitor centre planned for Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House in Helensburghhe National Trust for Scotland plans a new visitor centre at Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House in Helensburgh as part of a £20m conservation project.The Herald · 16 Oct, 11:26

In this story: Charles Rennie Mackintosh · Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh · National Trust for Scotland · Hill House · Helensburgh

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