The Giant Chainmail Box That Stops a House From Dissolving

February 9, 2022 5:53 AM

The National Trust of Scotland, which manages the home, describes it as “dissolving like an aspirin in a glass of water.” [via]
posted by ellieBOA (39 comments total)

Kottke also posted about this video:

The Hill House in Helensburgh, Scotland is considered an architectural masterpiece, but it’s falling apart in the wet Scottish weather.

Mackintosh was a revolutionary designer, but the materials and techniques at the cutting edge of architectural design in 1900 haven’t withstood a century of the west of Scotland’s harsh, wet weather conditions.

The external render of the property has not proved watertight and the walls have gradually become saturated and are crumbling, with water now threatening the interiors.

If we don’t act soon, the house will be irreparably damaged and we’ll lose its iconic architecture and unique interiors forever.

So what they’ve done is put a giant structure built mostly from chainmail around the house to dry it out. And cleverly, they built a system of observation platforms within the box so that visitors can see the exterior of the historic house like never before.
posted by ellieBOA at 5:56 AM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

The first day of our honeymoon was spent in Glasgow. We went to the cathedral, necropolis, and walked around and saw a couple of buildings that Rennie had designed. I had to translate everything for my wife because the Glaswegian accent was well beyond her, but I'd had years of listening to interviews with Sir Alex Ferguson to prepare me.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:14 AM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

Cool!

They were doing something similar to Rosslyn Chapel when I went to visit it years ago. No chainmail walls, but a huge industrial-looking roof contructed over the top to help it dry out slowly after some earlier misguided restoration attempts had seen them paint cement over a lot of the interior (or something like that), to similar effect as the exterior of Hill House. It seems to be without its extra roof these days, so I must go back some time.
posted by penguin pie at 6:14 AM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

I only knew about Mackintosh's furniture. There's so much more than that.

Hill House design
This page has a couple of exterior views without the shed covering. And views of the amazing rooms.

More details of the design and interior here. "Despite the critical acclaim both received, they were the only private homes Mackintosh designed from scratch in his entire career. Many prospective clients were put off by his radical approach and by his reputation for demanding complete control of his projects."

It reminds me of the Greene & Greene brothers, building amazing bungalows in southern California around the same time. They also had an obsession with details. Some of the same feel as Mackintosh in a very different form.

Stucco

The house walls are porous sandstone, covered in portland cement stucco. Lime mortar stucco is more flexible and tiny cracks are refilled by lime. Portland is much more brittle.

Lime stucco: "Slightly acidic rainwater partially dissolves calcium carbonate along the edge of the crack temporarily creating calcium bicarbonate. It re-deposits it, toward the front of the crack as calcium carbonate again. This self-healing characteristic of lime is well described in the literature as 'autogenous healing.'"
posted by jjj606 at 6:29 AM on February 9, 2022 [4 favorites]

The chain mail umbrella is a little weird, but the more they described it, the more well conceived it appears to me.

(1) It cleverly does the right things to the house with minimal impact on how it engages with its environment positivley

(2) The structure is durable and recyclable

(3) Whether it was luck or not, they may be able to underwrite substantial other parts of their project when they cash in on steel


...This last part has my attention because it's a weird way to use commodity pricing as a way to use a long time line as a financial asset to a public project. I know there's a ton of risk in this approach and circumstance and timing would require competent oversight. Still, I feel like there are wider applications for something like this.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:35 AM on February 9, 2022 [6 favorites]

This is absolutely fascinating! Thank you for sharing it!
posted by kimberussell at 6:39 AM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

I wonder what the long term plans for repair/maintenance are once the house has dried out enough that they can work on it.
posted by tdismukes at 6:52 AM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

When finished with the cover, I think they could sell all the chain mail as an interesting fabric for architectural projects or cut up into smaller pieces for craft uses.
posted by jjj606 at 7:05 AM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is amazing - like jj606, I only knew Mackintosh created furniture and interiors. Going into the video blind, I immediately thought, oh, that looks like Charles Rennie MacIntosh, and was then amazed to find out that it was actually entirely designed by him - I can't wait to explore more of the links. I find his work so beautiful.

I love the detail of the chain mail itself - with each link made by hand, the box actually complements the house itself. It's a nice, seemingly unnecessary touch that looks like it adds to the overall experience of visiting the site. And the fact that they plan to recycle it when it's served its purpose just adds to its value. That's how preservation should be treated.

Mostly I love the idea of being able to walk around and experience the architecture from all angles, like visiting a life-sized dollhouse. It reminds me of this home that's always fascinated me from architect Adam Kalkin.
posted by Mchelly at 7:13 AM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

Loved everything about this - the title, the concept, the execution and the sustainability. Thank you for posting, ellieBOA!
posted by widdershins at 7:47 AM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

I'm being cranky. Why does this irritate the ever loving hell out of me? The thing couldn't survive. Make it a MECCA for learning in engineering schools. Not a PROTECTED SPACE. It's not a rainforest...or a homeless shelter, or a hospital, or ummmm....
posted by lextex at 7:54 AM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

It's an important work of art. We wouldn't leave a Picasso out in the rain to rot.
posted by octothorpe at 8:10 AM on February 9, 2022 [10 favorites]

We watch a LOT of Tom Scott. One of my favorite things, which he does so beautifully here, is to blend a delightful nerd joy in the tech/science of things with thoughtful insights about how it connects to humans and society. I mean - the preservationists did that too, in building a box that created a literal second layer of interest in the landmark. I give both sets of people a lot of credit in creating something smart and beautiful that also gives people a new appreciation for Hill House and a unique experience and interaction with architecture. Delightful.
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 8:17 AM on February 9, 2022 [4 favorites]

A search on the Hill House stucco found these. I'm not sure what the current plans are.

This article from medium.com says they will strip off all the stucco and redo it. Here is the House

A pdf on the house survey from 2012. It mentions a plan to use a high tech coating to fill the cracks. Or epoxy grouting injected. I think this kind of irreversible new tech is avoided, if possible. How to maintain this coating 20, 50 years later? Another option mentioned is to remove all the stucco and replace with lime stucco with a similar surface finish, and a better backing. I'm sure they don't like this either, but may not have any good alternatives.
posted by jjj606 at 8:28 AM on February 9, 2022

I wonder if the eventual plan is to replace the portland cement harling with a lime harl? It's a bit antithetical to the building conservation world to do that kind of thing but it might be the best option.

There is an interesting link with the parallel thread on houses built in New Orleans in that Hill House had other architectural choices which are questionable for the West of Scotland. The lack of coping, water spouts, window cill protrusions, while very much in line with the architect's overall vision (and the original owner's request) are questionable decisions that have lead to a fabric that fails at its primary purpose.
posted by atrazine at 8:50 AM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

Very cool. They should really do something similar for the Egyptian obelisk in Central Park (aka "Cleopatra's Needle", although it was carved long before Cleopatra's time). Although I think it's perhaps a bit late to stop much of the acid-rain damage there.

I was surprised that the chainmail was hand-made. Certainly there has to be some way of automatically making chainmail today... right? I find it hard to believe that all the chainmail vests, etc., that cosplayers and reenactors wear is all handmade. Wouldn't it be the same as making a chain, only in two dimensions? Machine-made chain has been a thing since at least the 19th century, IIRC.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:50 AM on February 9, 2022

I used to volunteer on landscaping projects at the Hill House. The concept of "once the house has dried out enough" doesn't really apply to Helensburgh: 194 days with rain per year, average annual rainfall over 1600 mm. The house was suffering tremendously from damp when I worked there 30 years ago. The owner, the National Trust for Scotland, really should've put in the work earlier, but they're a sinecure organization for financially-embarrassed nobility, so it's never been a priority.

The nearby abandoned brutalist St. Peter's Seminary is in even more dismal condition.
posted by scruss at 8:55 AM on February 9, 2022 [7 favorites]

The nearby abandoned brutalist St. Peter's Seminary is in even more dismal condition.

Wow - what a shame. That's a beautiful building. Please forgive my total ignorance, I know that Scotland can be incredibly rainy in general, and I understand from the Hill House video that Macintosh was intentionally using new techniques and materials, but is this just a case of modern builders not understanding the effects of rain + time on these materials, or is this something that happens to all buildings in the area, and these are just happening on a hyper-accelerated timeframe? Or is it just a matter of not enough upkeep at a time when it could have made a difference?
posted by Mchelly at 9:02 AM on February 9, 2022

The chainmail is actually machine made, but the joining together of the 1.5m sheets (made by Alphamesh in Germany) is by hand.
posted by atrazine at 9:04 AM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

I'm kind of unsure how (or when) the house will ever actually dry out enough to restore/fix. While the chainmail will probably stop most of the rain from getting to the house, it's not going to do squat with the dampness, humidity, mist, etc. that's still going to drift through.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:42 AM on February 9, 2022

The video says that they don't want to dry it out too quickly because that would cause more issues so they decided to keep the sides open to let it breath more. Not sure why they needed to use chainmail when ordinary chain-link fencing would probably work just as well but it does look cool.
posted by octothorpe at 10:43 AM on February 9, 2022

What I assumed from the moment I heard that they used chain mail was that it serves as a condensation barrier for mist and fog.

I might be completely off-base.
posted by tigrrrlily at 10:53 AM on February 9, 2022

I can't see how the chain mail would stop suspended water droplets like mist or fog unless there is some kind of static charge effect or something non-obvious going on.

I assume the intent is to stop rain coming in at an angle, which that pattern of chain mail looks like it would do fairly effectively for rain at reasonable angles (but chain link fencing would not). I wish Tom Scott's video would have actually explained specifically how the chain mail is supposed to work.
posted by ssg at 11:17 AM on February 9, 2022

Statement on the Conservation Architect's web page:

Client: The National Trust for Scotland

The A Listed Hill House is the most important 20th century house in Scotland and was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scotland’s most famous 20th century architect.

The house has suffered throughout its history however from water ingress through its cement rendered walls which has caused extensive outbreaks of rot and is causing its stone and brick fabric to decay.

LDN have been appointed by the NTS to lead a team of experts, including representatives of the Building Research Establishment and the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit, to investigate the causes of the problems and identify long-term solutions that will cure them.

The appointment is based on our experience of addressing similar issues in relation to other A Listed historic buildings including the modern movement Craigsbank Church, Newhailes for the NTS and Stanley Mills for Historic Scotland.
posted by Kiwi at 11:22 AM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

Aw, I was a kid in the 1970s and 1980s and I remember so many architect's innovations that could not handle rain, furniture, a second inhabitant. Usually the architect was still living in it, sometimes Now Alone, defiantly ... pretending it didn't leak?

I'm guessing that the innovators who *could* adapt to mistakes just fixed them and didn't stick out as much, or they were of the perpetually-under-construction DIYish kind that evolved into superb design-build contractors.
posted by clew at 12:28 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

I wish Tom Scott's video would have actually explained specifically how the chain mail is supposed to work.

Yeah, that was like Scott's shortest video ever. I wonder why he didn't get into as much detail as he usually does.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:42 PM on February 9, 2022

Interesting - this says that only 13% of the usual rainfall makes it through the chainmail.

Adorably, one of the ways they tested it was to invite a huge gang of kids to fire water pistols at it and see if any water got through - it didn't.
posted by penguin pie at 1:43 PM on February 9, 2022 [6 favorites]

Take into account that it doesn't have to be (and ideally shouldn't) completely dry.

A mass wall like this has a complicated equilibrium between the wall mass, the inside finishes and air, the outside air, and any surface moisture. The problem is that it is subjected to frequent and lengthy driving rain, followed by drizzly cool conditions not amenable to rapid drying. As a result, the wall mass gets wetter and wetter over time and this drives moisture into internal finishes and into the interior air. This is why non impervious walls like this or brick need things like wall cavities, wall coping, and effective guttering / roof overhangs. Not to keep the wall "dry" but to keep the water load low enough that the wall reaches an equilibrium "wetness" which doesn't cause a problem.

In the UK, the weather zoning standard for mass walls requires properties at altitude, in Scotland, parts of Wales, and some areas of the English West coast to have thicker gaps between the layers in cavity walls and virtually all failed cavity wall retrofits happen in those places when the insulation retrofit allows a moisture bridge to develop between the saturated outer leaf of the wall and the inner leaf and therefore to the interior surface. (that isn't the issue here but the cause is similar).

The property is (well it's called Hill House) on a hill, on the Scottish West coast, it's basically the worst case scenario for this kind of construction.

The traditional surface finish, lime marling, has excellent rain shedding characteristics (I grew up in a lime marled house in Scotland) but portland cement marling doesn't so much.

Removing a substantial amount of rain loading (all vertical rain), and most wind driven rain, drives the equilibrium saturation down over the years as moisture slowly evaporates out of the wall faster than it gets back in. I think you might be surprised how much horizontal water droplets get trapped on fine mesh. Remember, it doesn't have to be dry, just drier.
posted by atrazine at 2:53 PM on February 9, 2022 [11 favorites]

It's an important work of art. We wouldn't leave a Picasso out in the rain to rot.

Yeah, but this isn't a Picasso. It's an unusually ephemeral example of architecture due to the fact that it can't handle the weather. It's a building that fails at being a building. Ephemeral art is a thing, if you must view it as art.

I think we can reasonably expect that a painting might need to be sheltered from the elements. A house, not so much. That what's considered to be the most important 20th century house in Scotland can't handle being in Scotland, sounds like the best artistic statement that can be made here. And the lesson to be had by future architects: Don't do this.
posted by 2N2222 at 4:33 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

It's a building that fails at being a building.

The building is fine. It's only the surface treatment that's bad.

Replacing failed varnish is a thing that's routinely done to restore wonderful old paintings. This seems to me to be much the same idea, just bigger and more expensive.
posted by flabdablet at 5:30 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

It reminds me of this home that's always fascinated me from architect Adam Kalkin.

!! This is fucking crazy! The heating bills! I feel bad for their housekeeper.
posted by latkes at 10:49 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

Many iconic buildings - e.g. Fallingwater - have needed restoration to remedy technical failings - often this is due to innovative (at the time) building practices that only later later more refined.
posted by Kiwi at 11:15 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

I rather like that the chainmail enclosure is itself a novel technical approach. Double the bet!
posted by clew at 11:40 PM on February 9, 2022

The building is fine. It's only the surface treatment that's bad.

Let's not pretend here.

The building is so fine, it needs a special umbrella to keep it from rotting away while a solution is devised. The whole reason for this endeavor is that the building is not fine. The construction technique was ill conceived, making it prone to premature failure. But it's unique premature failure, demanding special remedy, which I guess only adds to its cache.

I find architecture pretty trying as an artistic endeavor. I'm well aware of Falling Water, as well as FLW's other architectural follies. I tend to lack patience for the architect artist who fails at practicality, or even basic nuts and bolts engineering. It's like a desire for grandiosity that makes the architect artist, and the validation for the appreciation. A model of a beautiful design isn't good enough. It's as if it has to be carried out to the bitter end to make it valid art, as long as there's someone with deep enough pockets to indulge the artistic drive.
posted by 2N2222 at 5:02 AM on February 10, 2022

The cladding issue seems more of a construction/engineering failure than an architectural one to me. But hey, they were trying something new and it didn't quite work out.

I just had my house built a couple of years ago. Everything modern and up to code and nothing too out there. I would be extremely surprised if it lasted for 100+ years in any state.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:59 AM on February 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Needs tomscott tag.

He's worth following. Certain MeFites should check out 'Citation Needed' and 'Two of these people are lying', both are Wikipedia based goof fun.

Worth going back through the catalogue of videos.

Two Drums and a Cymbal Fall off a Cliff - YouTube
posted by zengargoyle at 7:31 AM on February 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

The whole reason for this endeavor is that the building is not fine. The construction technique was ill conceived, making it prone to premature failure.

I don't think there's anything ill-conceived about building houses out of brick and stone.

As I understand it, the waterlogging that's affecting this particular house is because it was coated with a Portland cement based render rather than a traditional but more expensive lime based one. Turns out, when Portland cement render cracks it doesn't self-heal like lime renders do. Instead, every little crack just wicks water running over the outside straight into the masonry, and then the relatively non-porous render holds it in place rather than letting it evaporate. I don't think this is because the render was ill-conceived, I think it's because that wasn't generally understood at the time the render was chosen.

As I understand it there is nothing wrong with the architecture, nor with any of the building material choices except for the render. Once The Box has given the walls a chance to dry out, stripping off that purely decorative surface treatment and replacing it with a lime-based render of similar texture and colour should leave the building visually unchanged but unlikely to get waterlogged again.
posted by flabdablet at 10:27 AM on February 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

I visited Hill House about 10 years ago and loved it. The way that the architecture and internal decorative schemes form one harmonious design is really special. The only other places I can think of that do the same thing are the Horta Museum in Brussels (Art Nouveau) and Standen House in West Sussex (English Arts-and-Crafts).
posted by Azara at 10:28 AM on February 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

I find architecture pretty trying as an artistic endeavor. I'm well aware of Falling Water, as well as FLW's other architectural follies. I tend to lack patience for the architect artist who fails at practicality, or even basic nuts and bolts engineering. It's like a desire for grandiosity that makes the architect artist, and the validation for the appreciation. A model of a beautiful design isn't good enough. It's as if it has to be carried out to the bitter end to make it valid art, as long as there's someone with deep enough pockets to indulge the artistic drive.

I tend to agree with you... but also I love the design & integration of Falling Water to death, so I'm kinda glad it exists, even with all its issues. I'm mean, it would be nightmare owning a house in constant need of costly structural repairs because the initial design made no sense. But it would also be incredible to live in this house.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 12:42 PM on February 10, 2022