Welcome to the uber cool beachside suburb of St Kilda. Home of the Block 2018. Here Scott has found the, worst house on the best street. Well, a hotel actually – The Gatwick, a 58-room hotel built in 1937.
This is the biggest construction project the Block has ever attempted. The building’s absolutely huge, with five massive apartments up for grabs. Two penthouse apartments to be erected on the roof and below them in the original part of the building three additional apartments. A safe with mystery contents resides in apartment one.
Set for another massive renovation five new couples arrive at The Block. First to arrive is Norm, 40 and Jess, 33 an engaged couple with 2 children from Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Norm is a builder and Jess a breakfast radio announcer. This couple of Aussie battlers view the Block as a once in lifetime opportunity to set-up their growing family up for the future.
Next to arrive are newlyweds Sara, 31 a flight attendant and Hayden, 45, a construction manager from NSW. The couple has a young daughter and 13-year age gap between them making Sara Gen Y and Hayden Gen X. Hayden admits to Sara likes to be the boss and confident Sara thinks they are the team to beat.
Third to arrive is the oldest couple, Kerrie, 48 and Spence, 46. These two are married and live in the Barossa Valley and run a bed and breakfast. Kerrie’s a nurse and Spence an owner/builder who works on high-end architectural buildings. The couple has two dogs and a horse, who make up their family.
The fourth team to join the group are best mates and former pro netballers, Bianca 35 and Carla, 35. Bianca was vice-captain of the gold medal winning Australian team in the 2014 commonwealth games. The competitive couple thinks some people may underestimate them, but they want everyone to know they have the hunger and determination to win.
The final couple to arrive is Hans, 37, and Courtney, 33 engaged. Both Aviation professionals from Perth Western Australia, Hans a pilot and Courtney a flight attendant. Good thing these two are well versed in take offs and landing’s as they are about to ride a rollercoaster of emotions.
Now that everyone has arrived – Hayden cracks the front gate open. The Gatwick is officially open for business! As the new couples all explore their new abode, they’re all overcome by the state of the rooms.
Built in 1937, the Gatwick has since seen its fair share of wear and tear. As of today, five teams will change all that as they embark on the challenge of a lifetime to turn this old dump into multimillion-dollar apartments.
In this series of the Block, amazing transformations will take place and the judges feedback will take the teams to the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Strap yourselves in everyone…it’s going to be one hell of a ride!
Courtney and Hans find the big mystery safe with a clock on it. Still to the countdown on the clock is 49 hours.
Scott calls all the teams to the top of the Gatwick, where the two penthouses will be built. On the roof, Scott welcomes this year’s five new couples to the Block. In order to decide which apartment each team will renovate for the competition – Everyone must compete in a 48-hour challenge, renovating a kid’s room. This is the most important room they will all do on the Block.
This challenges winner gets the first choice of the apartment they want to renovate for the series and their 48-hour challenge room budget back. Seasoned judges Shaynna Blaze, Neal Whittaker and Darren Palmer will score their rooms.
The clock will begin its 48-hour countdown tomorrow morning. All the couples can do for the night is clear out their rooms. Most couples drag everything into the foyer, so in they can quickly throw everything in the skip tomorrow. All except for Newlyweds Hayden and Sara, who find an empty room and set up their bed for the night, leaving all of their clean-up for the morning. The fault in this plan is, they must wait for the other teams to clear the foyer before being able to access the skip themselves.
Battlers Norm and Jess, draw inspiration from their daughter and attempt to create a bedroom fit for a princess. What they lack in design flair, they make up for in heart. But will it be enough to get them a Penthouse and set them on the path to a debt-free life?
Bianca and Carla want to feature a dark ceiling and hope that risk will pay off come judging time. These two attack this challenge as they would a game of netball – It’s all about teamwork and backing each other for this competitive pair.
Builder and perfectionist Spence wants to challenge his extensive skills and experience and decides to do a detailed coffered ceiling all on his own. The ceiling will feature 18 panels, 20 beams, 72 molding and a whopping 72 joins. This ambitious plan will be extremely hard for Spence to achieve something so elaborate in 48 hours…will he get it done?
Aviation professionals and inexperienced renovators Courtney and Hans plan an aeronautical themed room with cloud ceiling wallpaper. After being told it will be too difficult to install and not knowing any better, Courtney doesn’t go ahead with it. Scott tells the couples don’t take no for an answer and go after what they want. Kicking this plan back into action, will they pull it off.
Confident newlyweds Hayden and Sara throw the most amount of money at the challenge. To get things done the best way they know how – outsource.
With only 1 hours left of power tool use for the day, all teams are all working in overdrive. And only 16 hours left on the clock till everyone must deliver their rooms. All the teams will be painting and styling well into the night. The episode ends with just 10 minutes left on the clock.
