After four years of planning and construction, the LEGO Group opened the first phase of its new, state-of-the-art Campus at its headquarters in Billund, Denmark today. Designed by C.F. Møller Architects, the campus will span 54,000 square metres and house more than 2,000 employees when it is finished in 2021.
Hoping to express the core values of the LEGO Group: imagination, creativity, fun, learning, caring and quality, the inspiration for the new building came from a painting in the LEGO Group owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen’s office. In it, a boy proudly holds up his creation of a building made with LEGO® bricks. This gave the architects license to adopt a more playful approach to their design, something that is apparent in the details of the structure. These include the use of LEGO bricks in the exterior walls, the placement of two, gigantic yellow bricks on the roof, and an entryway made of bricks.
An old African saying says: It takes a village to raise a child. The LEGO House could be conceived as a village for playing and learning – an urban space as much as architecture. As much for Billund’s visitors as for its citizens, public without and within. We propose to approach the spaces and activities for The LEGO House through the lens of a core element of LEGO’s philosophy – Inventing the future of play through systematic creativity. As an idea, The LEGO House can be conceived as a three dimensional village of interlocking and overlapping buildings and spaces. It can be visited as a curated flow – from one building to the next – in a continuous movement. Or it can be experienced as parallel worlds of complete autonomy. Each space can be designed and used independently. Each box can have a unique light setting, a unique dimension and still be part of a flexible totality. Multiple spaces have access to an outdoor space that can be used to expand the LEGO experience to the outside. The LEGO House will be both expressive and rational. Innovative and systematic- like a Guggenheim of white cubes, combining the functionality of the modular space with the iconic character of a sculptural building.
An old African saying says: It takes a village to raise a child. The LEGO House could be conceived as a village for playing and learning – an urban space as much as architecture. As much for Billund’s visitors as for its citizens, public without and within.
LEGO’s designers are the luckiest in the world – they get to play with LEGO all day long! Now, the designers of LEGO’s development department, LEGO PMD, has a physical working environment that corresponds to its playful content – a working environment where fun, play and creativity are paramount and where the physical design gives the adults a chance to be part of children’s play. With the values ’fun’, ’unity’, ’creativity & innovation’, ’imagination’ and ’sustainability’ as basis for the design, LEGO PMD has become a unique development department where the designers can become part of the children’s fantasy world. LEGO doesn’t just create fun for others – at LEGO PMD working is fun!
Yellow table bar (Image Courtesy Anders Sune Berg)
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