A Scottish Masterpiece Dissolving From Within

The Hill House is a design icon that is slowly rotting away. Because the architect used experimental building techniques that trapped moisture, the house is now encased in a massive steel box to protect it from the rain.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed this villa using a non-traditional Portland cement render that proved disastrously porous. Over a century of heavy Scottish rainfall has caused the structure to absorb water like a sponge, threatening the delicate interior details. To save it, architects built a giant, open-air cage around the entire house to serve as a protective shield. This steel box allows the stone walls to dry out while letting visitors walk on elevated paths above the house. It is a rare case where the preservation effort has become a tourist attraction in its own right.