DESIGNER homes that had tenants nesting in them went on show in Durham over the weekend.

The avian des reses, which are on view at the Durham Light Infantry Museum and Durham Art Gallery are the result of a challenge to architects worldwide to design the Best Bird Box in Britain.

The idea caught the imagination of designers who responded enthusiastically.

The winning practice, De Matos Storey Ryan, of London, produced a series of modular designs that could be adjusted to suit 25 varieties of birds.

The exhibition, called Bird Boxes, includes some of the original designs as well as 3D examples of new-style bird boxes.

Architects worked with children from Wearhead Primary School on a number of linked projects, including field trips, and they were present when the finished bird boxes were installed in woodland on the Durham City riverbanks.

Proof of the projects' success came when more than half of the boxes were occupied in the first two months.

The exhibition, which also marks the RSPB's 2006 Big Garden Birdwatch, runs until March 5.