Dream Home at The Gallery, Hove

Contemporary living with modern values at The Gallery in the heart of Hove

Few cities have as many opportunities to live in the heart of things as Brighton and Hove does. This has always been a desirable place to live and the high number of beautiful domestic buildings in the city centre is evidence of this. In recent years, demand for private homes has grown even stronger, with more and more people moving to the city, choosing the exciting coastal lifestyle above other, perhaps more urban, alternatives. It is certainly true that the city offers some of the most sophisticated living to be found in the UK, with excellent shopping, entertainment and nightlife, plus of course the sea, the beach and miles of surrounding downland.

That is why a new development will always attract masses of attention, and why the creators of it will need to make sure that as a development, it offers the very best standards across the board. The Gallery certainly ticks all the boxes.

The first to snap up the first available apartment is a Mrs Quantick. “It is a lovely apartment and positioned exactly where I wanted to be; not too close to the busy main shopping district but still only a short walk away and only a little further to the beach. Having St Ann’s Well Gardens across the road is a major benefit too, a pretty space with tennis courts, bowls, a café and play area for children as well as formal gardens and woodland area.’’

There is no doubt that the apartment is special. The spaces are well thought out, the finish excellent and the location, first class.

The main space is a well planned living area that easily divides into three zones; a kitchen, a dining area and a sitting room. Cleverly, from the sitting room the kitchen is not visible – a common fault in many open-plan designs. The sitting area has massive floor-to-ceiling windows and a door leads out onto a practical south facing balcony with views across to the park.

The master bedroom is well proportioned with large windows that fill the space with light and the en-suite shower and WC is spacious and stylishly modern, but not aggressively so. Contemporary classic rather than sharp-edged modern, and much nicer for it. Everywhere there are power points, a detail that makes any space far more versatile.

The second bedroom is smaller but still a well proportioned double and again the presence of large windows gives the room a light and airy feel.

The main hallway has three other doors leading off. The first is a large family bathroom with, once more, contemporary classic fittings and plenty of space. I like the close proximity to the master bedroom, for those days when a long and luxurious soak in a bath is preferable to a quick shower. This bathroom is certainly not short on luxury and the dark grey tiles are sleek and stylish, as are the chrome fixtures and white suite.

The second door opens onto a massive hot water storage tank with an equally spacious storage. There’s even the traditional convention of an airing cupboard and here it comes with an amazing modern hot water and heating system. The facility is centrally supplied from four computer controlled boilers in the developments basement. Here these units work in rotation so that each has equal wear and tear. It also means that in the event of a breakdown, there are three other boilers that can come into immediate use. The knowledge that a loss of heating or hot water is unlikely is very reassuring.

The final doors (double) open onto a huge wardrobe or storage space. Certainly room enough to store plenty of the things that you don‘t want to leave on view.

The Gallery, a working name for the development, which will be renamed on completion, is a smart and eco-friendly new build that boasts a wide range of state-of-the art attractions. The building will be set in beautifully designed gardens with water features and each apartment also has an allocated underground car parking space. Above the entrance to the car park is a separate unit that is home to a communal fully equipped gymnasium.

The design of the building is modern but unobtrusive, with softening panels of natural timber, and the apartments come in a variety of layouts from one to three bedroom. Some have gardens, some terrace and there are even penthouses for that extra level of luxury and style. And of course, each comes with that level of quality and assurance that we naturally expect from a Barratt development.