Project life - the findings: The parnell's time as project:life guinea pigs draws to a close

After six months of living it up in the Project:Life house just outside Sheffield, the Parnell family have moved out, having thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the David Wilson Homes research project.

While the family got on with their daily lives, scientists from the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester monitored each individual's movements in the house using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags worn on the wrist.

The large, four-storey house was equipped with the latest in design features, gadgets and appliances. Pilkington supplied the Low E interior and self-cleaning Activ exterior panes for the entire house, ensuring energy efficiency and low maintenance.

The rear elevation was extensively glazed with one façade spanning two floors, offering occupants the chance to take in the beautiful Yorkshire scenery surrounding the house. Mum Sue Parnell reports that the Activ windows worked incredibly well, and didn't need cleaning.

Visitors nicknamed the house the Tardis, as it is much larger than it appears from the road. Its four-storey design using split-level construction, allowed for unusual floor layouts and features.

Light and space

The open-plan ground floor layout, the high-ceiling in the lounge and the light flooding into the rear, hall and stairs of the house, all contributed to a feeling of space, an aspect of the design commented on most by visitors, and the Parnell family themselves.

Another major talking-point was the glass floor on the landing, which allowed light to cascade through all three upper floors down into the entrance hall below from remote controlled Velux skylights which provided passive ventilation, and closed automatically in the rain.

Meanwhile, the extensive glazing, balconies and terraces served to integrate the garden and the house, with the balcony outside the kitchen proving to be a great spot for summer meals.

The research revealed the different areas of the house preferred by each family member. Sue for example, spent much of her relaxation time in her en suite bathroom - probably something to do with the sunken bath with its inset plasma TV on the wall. Dad Nick was more partial to the den in the basement and the hot tub on the balcony.

Mum Sue Parnell reports that the Activ windows worked incredibly well, and didn’t need cleaning

The two teenage girls spent much of their time at home in their bedrooms, sleeping, relaxing and notching up a record number of sleepovers with their friends.

On a typical rest day, the girls would spend as much as 50% of their time in their bedrooms, the parents spending about 30% of their time in theirs on a similar day.

As well as tagging, the family were also interviewed throughout their stay in order to gain an insight into how the design of the house defined the family's behaviour.

Living in such a large and spacious property proved to be a calming backdrop to family life. The parents remarked that there was much less bickering between the two teenage girls as they had their own space.

Breaking the new-build mould

Commenting on the project, DWH development director, James Wilson said, ‘Volume housebuilders tend to be conservative. There were many aspects of the house design that we have wanted to trial one day, but which we would not have risked on the commercial marketplace, acknowledging that some elements might not be successful.

‘We called it our ‘one day' house. In Project:Life, our objective was to update, in the most real way possible, our understanding of how house design impacts upon peoples' lives' he went on.

The project's findings have been immensely valuable to DWH. Successful elements from the house are already influencing designs of smaller and more affordable housing soon to emerge across the country and there are plans for more research projects in the future, on an even larger scale.

The house will go on sale during 2006 through Sheffield agent, Saxton Mee. Further information on the environmental performance and waste management findings of the project will be published later in the year.