Abri Homes’ Shackleton Heights development is a collection of two-, three- and four-bedroom family homes in the Lockleaze district of Bristol.
Located just a short drive from the centre of Bristol, Shackleton Heights from WhatHouse? Award-winning developer Abri Homes offers easy access to the city’s wide range of shops, restaurants and bars that cater for all preferences. If staying local is more your style, then Shackleton Heights sits right on the doorstep of Gainsborough Park, which provides both an urban green space and local shops for your daily essentials.
Designed by Focus, the show home was created with young families in mind. The space is inspirational but achievable, helping potential purchasers to imagine what life could be like in their new home.
Even before you enter the new four-bedroom show home, the modern exterior design draws you in, with a combination of dark bricks, window frames and wooden accents in keeping with current trends. The large windows at the front of the home are placed so that natural light floods the property and allows the outside to be brought in.
The exterior also hints at the sustainability of the property, with an electric vehicle charging point visible on its front wall. This is complimented by the installation of air source heat pumps and wild gardens, creating a home that works for both its residents and the planet.
Welcoming hallway
As you step over the hearth onto a ‘welcome home’ doormat, you are greeted by deep blue walls, making an immediate visual impact and providing an insight into the design choices you will encounter throughout the home.
The furnishings in this space hint at Bristol’s unique history, with an industrial style table and mirror alluding to Bristol’s manufacturing past opposite butterfly prints from a small local business reflecting both the city’s historic zoo and vibrant arts scene.
Family living spaces
As you move through the home, you find yourself in a spacious living area designed with growing families in mind. Here, you are introduced to the two styles present in the home, hinted at by both the wallpaper and storage options in the space.
The wallpaper brings Bristol’s vibrant art scene into the home, whilst the bird print makes reference to the city’s famous zoo and conservationist history. Opposing the masculine blue of the wallpaper, the pink painted walls reflect the dominant colours of street art in the local area, which is continued in the pops of colour brought in by the cushions and throw.
Further colour is brought in by the vibrant greens of various house plants, which bring the local green spaces in Gainsborough Park into the home and are helped by the plentiful natural light streaming into the room.
Contrastingly, the blacks and greys of the storage units and sofa create a more linear style, whilst providing space for a growing family to both relax together and display their collective history. This linear style is continued in the simple black picture frames and clock, reflecting Bristol’s industrial past. We also see artwork reminiscent of the seaside, which draws on Bristol’s harbourside location.
Kitchen
The large double doors in the kitchen diner are framed by teal curtains, allowing lots of light into the space and continuing to welcome the outside into this family home. The artistic styling present in the living room is continued here through a sleek black dining table and cabinets which are both spacious and practical for use by a growing family.
Colour is brought into the room through bright yellow placemats and dusty pink appliances, maintaining the home’s unique artistic style. Finishing touches include a contemporary round mirror, alluding to the portholes of Bristol’s harbourside past.
Landing
Moving upwards through the home a spacious landing welcomes you to the first floor, where you can find thick grey carpets and soft velvet curtains that create a comfortable, homely feel
Running up the staircase are four black and white prints which carry the homes’ artistic feel upwards to the first floor whilst not taking away from the deep blue feature wall which allows colour to continue flowing through the home.
Office
To cater to the needs of a modern family, an office space has been created to allow for working from home. The highlight of this space is a mural depicting the hot air balloons that Bristol is famous for, with the scattered shelving and artwork reflecting the city’s artistic nature.
Above the desk, a bright yellow paint has been chosen to reflect the bright ideas that can be facilitated by this space, with its diagonal slant mirroring the angle of light from a desk lamp. Moving away from the artificial, the room is flooded with natural light, allowing for a large leafy plant to bring a touch of nature into the space.
Master bedroom
As one of the largest rooms in the house, this impressive master suite boasts plenty of natural light from its large window, providing sweeping views of the park outside. Surrounding the window, an abstract, leaf-print wallpaper has been chosen to both bring the outside inwards and mirror the colourful murals that make the local area unique. This vibrancy is continued in the choice of seating in the room, with two deep orange cocktail chairs brining a touch of contemporary style into the home whilst matching the curves of the wallpaper design.
As you move towards the back of the room, this vibrancy is softened by the neutral and pastel colours of the luxurious bedding against an elegant, wooden slatted backdrop. This combination of elegance and colour makes it the perfect space to relax and unwind.
The large bedroom also boasts and impressive en suite and walk-in dressing area, which enhances the flow of the room and draws out the pockets of space for everyday living.
Second bedroom
The deep blue that runs throughout the home is made the star in the second bedroom, where a calming ocean theme continues allusions to Bristol’s harbourside location found elsewhere in the home. This is primarily shown by the artistic wallpaper adorning the wall above the bed, mirrored in the throws below which give the impression of a crashing wave topped with seafoam. A porthole mirror continues this nautical theme, whilst also injecting colour into the room by reflecting the deep blue wallpaper opposite back into the space.
Not only is this space artistic, but it is also practical with a small desk providing space for either working from home or children’s homework. This room therefore not only caters to the needs of a growing family but also to the changes that have been made to people’s routines during the pandemic.
Child’s bedroom
The child’s bedroom brings the vibrancy of the surrounding city to life, with a hand painted mural of the harbourside dominating the space. This mural draws on Bristol’s most famous features and allows the space to grow with the child. The books lining the wall help to decorate the space, whilst teaching the occupant more about the city they call home.
There are also distinct references to wildlife throughout the room, playing on the childish sense of adventure inspired by the city’s former famous zoo. Bright lion bedsheets cover the bed which sits in a house-shaped frame to give the room a homely feel and plush animal heads mounted above the bookshelf ensure that all wall space is used effectively. The bespoke animal-shaped drawer handles continue the use of small business designs in the home, whilst adding a splash of colour to otherwise simple storage units.
Bathroom
The final room in the home is a spacious family bathroom, with a modern bath and shower catering for a growing family. Its neutral colours and clean edges create a bright and airy space, enhanced by a porthole mirror which adds depth to the room whilst continuing the homes’ subtle reference to Bristol’s nautical history. Life is brought into the otherwise simple space by a leafy houseplant, providing a splash of colour against the whites and textured greys of the tiling.
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