Powers of politics, scientific measurement and perception: Evaluating the performance of the Houses of Commons'first environmental system, 1852- 54

The chapter explores the role of the user experience in the design development and evaluation of Reid’s ventilation system, focusing on the period between 1835 and 1854. Eyewitness accounts from Members, which were recorded in Hansard reports, parliamentary papers, and newspapers, as well as scientific reports and the engineers’ monitoring log-books, which contained notes on Members’ self-reported feedback, provide critical insights into the internal environmental conditions and how Members experienced them. This chapter also retraces how insufficient success in satisfying the MPs’ expectations drove the House of Commons to commission various scientific inquiries into the system and contributed to the premature decommissioning of Reid’s system after only two years. Inquiries into the experience of occupants in buildings, however, were not unique to the Houses of Parliament. They represent a major strand within the history of building science in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and still form an important part in modern methods of Building Performance Evaluations. As such, the inquiries inside the House of Commons offers some insights into early nineteenth-century practices of environmental design.