first bricks laid on BIG-designed LEGO house in denmark

first bricks laid on BIG-designed LEGO house in denmark
all images courtesy of bjarke ingels group

with an opening date set for 2016, construction has recently broken ground on the ‘LEGO house’, designed by danish architecture office bjarke ingels group. located in the city of billund, the project builds upon the company’s legacy of providing creative learning activities to youth, and is expected to host approximately 250,000 visitors annually. thought of as an ‘experience center’, the facility provides a series of playful displays and installations primarily engaging children, as well as its adult audiences.

the scheme is composed of stacked rectangular volumes, with a massive LEGO-brick building element placed atop. the resulting structure reaches a height of 23 meters and housing an enclosed floor area of 12,000 square meters. the configuration allows for many outdoor roof terraces, as well as a central public square. see here for designboom’s initial feature of the project’s design, when it was initially announced.

an animation describes the LEGO house’s design
video courtesy of BIG

the building is composed as a cloud-like form made of rectangular blocks

in describing the design’s intentions, architect bjarke ingels states:

‘for us the LEGO brick embodies the notion of systematic creativity – the rigor and rationality of the LEGO brick allows children of all ages infinite possibilities to create their own worlds and to inhabit them through play. we have been inspired by the modularity of the LEGO brick to create a house of all things LEGO. the LEGO house will appear like a cloud of interlocking LEGO bricks that form spaces for exploration and exhibition for its visitors within. on the outside the pile of bricks form the roof of a new square as well as a mountain of interconnected terraces and playgrounds for the citizens of billund. for both the locals and the pilgrims LEGO house will form the vibrant center of the new heart of billund.’

the facility will provide a variety of engaging displays related to the creative possibilities of the LEGO brick

upon the project’s progress into construction, grandson of the founder and current LEGO group owner, kjeld kirk kristiansen, expresses:

‘for my family and me, the LEGO group has always been much more than just a company and our products more than just products. I am very passionate about play and how children learn through playing with LEGO bricks. this is essentially the LEGO idea and what the LEGO house is all about. I look forward to seeing the longtime dream of having one place where anyone can experience the LEGO idea come true.’

the ‘experience center’ is projected to host approximately 250,000 visitors annually

LEGO blocks displaying the company’s core values are stacked at the ground breaking ceremony

project info:

location: billund, denmark
client: LEGO group
status: under construction
size: 12,000 sqm
project type: competition
collaborators: COWI, RAA

BIG project team

partner in charge: bjarke ingels, finn nørkjær
project leader: brian yang
project manager: ariel norback wallner
project architect: søren askehave
project architect façades: snorre nash
team members: andreas klok pedersen, jakob andreassen, mathias bank, tommy bjørnstrup, lorenzo boddi, leszek czaja, dariusz duong vu hong, franck fdida , christoffer gotfredsen, kaspar hansen, thomas hart, kamilla heskje, katerina joannides, ryohei koike, thomas randbøll, katarzyna siedlecka, jesper boye andersen, annette birthe jensen, chris falla, jakob sand, jakub matheus wlodarczyk, kekoa charlot, michael schønemann jensen, ole dau mortensen