'Knitting needle' hotel to join Birmingham skyline

Birmingham city centre is to get a new skyscraper, a 26-storey hotel described by the architect as a "knitting needle of a building".

The Bloc hotel will be built on Hill Street, opposite New Street Station, on a site currently occupied by a largely vacant 1960s office block.

The council gave planning permission after reviewing its building policy, which restricts the locations of where tall buildings can be built.

It will join several new skyscraper developments in Birmingham, including the tallest office block, 103 Colmore Row and the Beorma Quarter Tower in Digbeth.

*Images from Glenn Howells Architects