Springing from the site of the former City Hall building in Billund, Denmark, a new LEGO experience hub looks like it was built out of giant, colorful LEGO blocks. Bjarke Ingels Group and COWI designed the 12,000-sm LEGO House.
The 23-meter-tall building is conceived as an urban space and as an experience center. Twenty-one overlapping blocks are placed like individual buildings and frame a 2,000-sm “LEGO Square” that is illuminated through the cracks and gaps between the volumes. The plaza has no visible columns and is publicly accessible, allowing visitors and citizens of Billund to take a shortcut through the building.
Photo: Iwan Baan
The LEGO Square contains a café, restaurant, LEGO store, and conference facilities. Above the square is a cluster of galleries that overlap to create a continuous sequence of exhibitions. Each gallery is color-coded in LEGO’s primary colors to act as a simple wayfinding strategy.
Colors are also used on the first- and second-floor play zones. The play zones are arranged by color and programmed with activities that represent certain aspects of a child’s learning: red is creative, blue is cognitive, green is social, and yellow is emotional.
Photo: Iwan Baan
A “Masterpiece Gallery” sits atop the structure and contains a collection of LEGO fans’ creations that pay tribute to the LEGO community. The Masterpiece Gallery is made to resemble the 2X4 LEGO brick and uses eight circular skylights that resemble the brick’s studs. Visitors can venture to the top of the Masterpiece Gallery to get a 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding city. Some of the rooftops can be accessed via pixilated public staircases that double as informal auditoria for people watching or seating for performances.
Photo: Iwan Baan
On the lower level is the “History Collection.” Here, visitors can experience an archival immersion into the LEGO company and the brand’s story. The Vault, meanwhile, is located underneath LEGO Square and presents visitors with the first edition of almost every LEGO set ever manufactured.
LEGO House is now open and is expected to attract more than 250,000 visitors annually. To celebrate the opening of LEGO House, LEGO released a 774-piece, 197-step kit that replicates the structure. It is part of the LEGO Architecture line and is sold exclusively at LEGO House.
Photo: Iwan Baan
Photo: Iwan Baan
Photo: Iwan Baan
Photo: Iwan Baan
Related Stories
Architects | Feb 27, 2015
5 finalists announced for 2015 Mies van der Rohe Award
Bjarke Ingels' Danish Maritime Museum and the Ravensburg Art Museum by Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei are among the five projects vying for the award.
Museums | Feb 18, 2015
Foster + Partners' National Museum of Marine Science and Technology breaks ground in Taiwan
The museum will be home to an aquarium, exhibition space, and waterfront views.
Museums | Feb 17, 2015
Light will shimmer through roof cutouts in Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi
After many delays since construction started in 2009, the Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi is slated for completion sometime this year.
Architects | Feb 11, 2015
Shortlist for 2015 Mies van der Rohe Award announced
Copenhagen, Berlin, and Rotterdam are the cities where most of the shortlisted works have been built.
Museums | Feb 9, 2015
Herzog & de Meuron's M+ museum begins construction in Hong Kong
When completed, M+ will be one of the first buildings in the Foster + Partners-planned West Kowloon Cultural District.
Museums | Feb 6, 2015
Tacoma Art Museum's new wing features sun screens that operate like railroad box car doors
The 16-foot-tall screens, operated by a hand wheel, roll like box car doors across the façade and interlace with a set of fixed screens.
| Jan 19, 2015
HAO unveils designs for a 3D movie museum in China
New York-based HAO has released designs for the proposed Bolong 3D Movie Museum & Mediatek in Tianjin.
| Jan 13, 2015
Steven Holl unveils design for $450 million redevelopment of Houston's Museum of Fine Arts
Holl designed the campus’ north side to be a pedestrian-centered cultural hub on a lively landscape with ample underground parking.
| Jan 2, 2015
Construction put in place enjoyed healthy gains in 2014
Construction consultant FMI foresees—with some caveats—continuing growth in the office, lodging, and manufacturing sectors. But funding uncertainties raise red flags in education and healthcare.
| Dec 29, 2014
'Russian nesting doll' design provides unique fire protection solution for movie negatives
A major movie studio needed a new vault to protect its irreplaceable negatives for films released after 1982. SmithGroupJJR came up with a box-in-a-box design solution. It was named a Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
