Meet the house of the future

Tuesday, 17, Jan 2006 10:20

Innovative design features used in an experimental property in Sheffield may soon be rolled out to the mass market.

A laundry linked to floors above via a laundry chute, a bootroom entrance, and a basement den were among the features tested successfully in the experiment.

The Parnell family, comprising Nick and Sue and their two daughters, were chosen from 70 volunteer families to spend six months 'test driving' the Project:LIFE house, which was set up to test the impact of house design on people.

The house, nicknamed the Tardis because it is much larger inside than it appears from the road, is a four-storey design using a split-level construction that permitted unusual floor layouts and features.

New technology included self-cleaning windows, an automatic shirt-ironer and energy-saving ventilation.

The family wore radio frequency identification tags for two three-week periods during the six month experiment, allowing their movements and use of the unusual rooms and features to be recorded by project collaborators David Wilson Homes, and the universities of Nottingham and Leicester.

David Wilson Homes' James Wilson said: "Volume house builders tend to be conservative. There were many aspects of house design which we wanted to trial one day but which we would not have risked in the commercial marketplace, acknowledging that some elements might not be successful.

"We called it our 'one-day' house. In Project:LIFE our objective has been to update, in the most real life way possible, our understanding of how house design impacts upon people's lives."

The laundry chute proved particularly popular with mum Sue. "I know it's sad, but I loved the space to sort the clothes before and after washing and the laundry chute meant the girls' rooms were tidier - well relatively," she said.

Nick, who cycles daily into the centre of Sheffield, appreciated the boot room entrance. "It was great - I entered the house through the boot room, dropped my wet outer clothes onto the tiles and, with the underfloor heating, by morning they would be dry."

As for the gadgets, Nick particularly appreciated the automatic shirt ironer, which was an inflatable mannequin, while Sue appreciated the en-suite bathroom with a television set into the wall at the foot of the sunken bath.

"I loved the luxury of unwinding in the bath after school, watching the TV, and if anyone rang the doorbell I could switch to CCTV to check whether I should get out of the bath to answer it," she said.

So, what are the chances of these gadgets appearing in a house near you? Well, David Wilson Homes says the research is already benefiting designs which it plans to roll out this year, with elements of the research house to be found even in much smaller homes.

But if you cannot wait for that, the Project:LIFE house will shortly go on sale through Sheffield estate agents Saxton Mee.

For more information on Project:LIFE, go to: www.projectlife.info