National Trust for Scotland unveils new plans for The Hill House
The National Trust for Scotland has unveiled plans for a new visitor centre at The Hill House in Helensburgh, as part of its plans to secure the long-term future of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's internationally significant masterpiece.
The proposals are part of Mackintosh Illuminated, the conservation charity’s project to conserve, celebrate and share the legacy of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh.
The programme brings together major conservation work with new visitor experiences, research, storytelling, learning, community engagement and digital innovation, centred around The Hill House in Helensburgh and The Mackintosh Tearooms in Glasgow.
A planning application is being submitted later this month to Argyll and Bute Council, by specialist conservation architects, LDN. The firm is based in Scotland, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.
The proposed facility, which will include a cafe and shop, is set to improve visitor experience and access to the Helensburgh site which currently welcomes 32,000 visitors annually.
The award-winning Hill House Box, completed in 2019, has protected the house from the elements while allowing the building to dry and enabling vital conservation research.
As work progresses towards the removal of the Box, the proposed visitor centre would provide permanent visitor facilities away from the house itself. The proposed visitor centre would be located on an area of low-grade land behind the house, currently used as a car park.
The site has been assessed by the National Trust for Scotland's head of nature conservation as part of the development of the proposals. No significant trees are expected to be displaced, with any vegetation affected by the development limited to scrub and brush.
The new centre will improve the way visitors arrive at and experience The Hill House, and offer a fully accessible space, while supporting the property's contribution to Helensburgh's wider visitor attractions.
The announcement follows the successful removal of The Hill House's original Portland cement roughcast earlier this year, following five and a half months of specialist work. The newly exposed walls are now being studied and tested to inform the next phase of its conservation.
Liz Davidson, project director for Mackintosh Illuminated at the Trust said: "The Hill House was designed as a complete work of architecture, where the building, interiors and landscape were conceived in relation to one another.
“Our long-term ambition is to conserve the house so that the Box can be removed, and Mackintosh's architecture can once again be understood in that setting.
"The proposed visitor centre is an important part of achieving that. By locating the facilities away from the house, we can provide what a modern visitor attraction needs and protect the architectural integrity, allowing The Hill House itself to once again define this part of the Helensburgh skyline."
Working with partners and communities, Mackintosh Illuminated will create new opportunities for audiences locally and internationally to engage with the work and legacy of Mackintosh and Macdonald, including in the lead-up to the centenary, in 2028, of Mackintosh's death.
Mackintosh Illuminated is one of Scotland’s and the Trust’s most ambitious heritage conservation projects, with an overall project cost of approximately £20m. The National Lottery Heritage Fund, alongside support from individual donors and partners, is helping the Trust progress the programme, with an anonymous private donation of £625,000 announced in June this year.
Established in 1931, the National Trust for Scotland is Scotland’s largest conservation charity. It cares for more than 100 sites, covering ancient houses, battlefields, castles, mills, gardens, coastlines, islands, mountain ranges and the plants and animals which depend upon them.
Pictured: The Hill House with roughcast removed
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