Last week Helen Lucas Architects enjoyed a summer day trip to the Hill House in Helensburgh. It was fascinating to learn about the 10-year conservation programme undertaken by the National Trust to protect the property which, although a stunning display of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's architecture and Margaret Macdonald's textiles, has not withstood a century of western Scoltand's unforgiving rainfall.

The protective box, a steel frame covered in chainmail mesh, featuring walkways around and over the roof of the house, provides a unique perspective and fantastic vantage point from which to view previously hidden architectural features.