chain founded 2010 2010 headquarters birmingham uk area served united kingdom key people rob morgan managing director website blochotels.com bloc hotels are a uk based hotel chain . it is noted for the innovative design of its hotel rooms which are constructed offsite and then installed in a hotel . 1 2 the concept was created after bloc s founders studied capsule hotels which are commonly located in japan . 2 the hotel chain has properties based in gatwick airport and birmingham in the united kingdom with plans for several additions . 3 4 overview and design edit bloc hotel in birmingham the concept is inspired by japanese capsule hotels which focus on creating rooms for guests in small places . the construction technique was implemented by boxbuild a uk based construction company . their method of implementation of the hotel was to manufacture each room individually offsite and then stack the rooms in situ so the hotel exterior could be built around them . 2 the group s approach is to cut costs through effective usage of space while offering good design quality and style . 1 bloc hotels focuses on the sleep and shower experiences of its clients avoiding unnecessary elements such as the wardrobe . 4 the company s intention is to open its hotels in places where space is at a premium and where local infrastructure and facilities are good . 1 the company opened its first hotel in the jewellery quarter . of birmingham in 2011 . 5 according to the company the hotel was planned and built in 25 weeks with the construction of the core structure finished in just 8 days . 4 it has 73 rooms . 2 in 2012 the group announced that it would be opening a second hotel located at the gatwick airport . 6 rob morgan managing director of the bloc hotels was reported to secure 7 million funding package from natwest to start construction of the hotel . according to morgan the gatwick hotel would be owned under 99 years lease from the airport . 7 the hotel is in a renovated office block having four floors built above rather than inside the terminal . it has 245 rooms with most having external windows and opened in april 2014 . guests can control room settings from an app . 1 8 9 references edit a b c d cook william 5 april 2014 . bloc gatwick flat pack hotel is cleared for take off . the independent . retrieved 24 july 2014 . a b c d shalam sally 28 may 2011 . hotel review bloc birmingham . the guardian . retrieved 6 february 2014 . macbeth louise 10 december 2013 . bloc plans to open 10 hotels in five years . boutique hotelier . retrieved 24 july 2014 . a b c higgins stacey mieyal 28 april 2011 . bloc hotels takes budget boutique to england . hotel news now . retrieved 24 july 2014 . vanhoenacker mark 26 january 2012 . 36 hours birmingham england . the new york times . retrieved 24 july 2014 . nicholls luke 23 august 2012 . bloc hotels to open second property . bighospitality . retrieved 6 february 2014 . walsh dominic 28 december 2012 . pre fab hotel plan to land at gatwick . the times . retrieved 24 july 2014 . southan jenny 21 november 2013 . bloc hotels to open high tech gatwick property . business traveller . retrieved 6 february 2014 . sunyer john 16 may 2014 . postcard from ... gatwick the hotel of the future . the financial times . retrieved 24 july 2014 . external links edit official website media related to bloc hotels at wikimedia commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title bloc hotels & oldid 706976859 categories hotel chainshidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 26 february 2016 at 09 35 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view