After two years of anticipation, the world’s largest Lego store has just opened in Leicester Square in London, with a massive Big Ben replica taking pride of place. The structure, which includes a working clock face, took 2,280 hours to build and, standing at 6 mt in height, is made up of 200,000 bricks.
The opening of the new store recently included the unveiling of a new Lego mascot named Lester, an English tea-drinking Minifigure, plus the first Lego London skyline replica set ahead of its worldwide release in January.
Lego, which has been voted the greatest toy of all time, sold more than 72 billion Lego ‘elements’ or pieces last year.
The London flagship has been two years in development and also features models of a dragon, the Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben and a Royal Mail postbox. The creations on display are made from 1.7 million bricks and together weigh five tonnes.
More than a third of those bricks went into the London Underground carriage, created in partnership with Transport for London. It took 4,000 hours to make and features an unusual passenger—a model of Shakespeare.
The 914-sq-m store also has a 1:15 scale model of the Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben, which is 6.5-m tall and weighs 1,035 kg. It took six model builders nearly 3,000 hours to create from 3,44,030 bricks, features a working clock and chimes with the sound of Big Ben. There are also models of a telephone box, the Leicester Square Tube roundel and an Underground map.
Attractions include the world’s first Lego ‘Mosaic Maker’, which allows shoppers to buy a personalised Lego mosaic portrait. The machine captures the portrait before producing instructions and the bricks required to complete the image. There are also play tables where children can sit and build.
Among the 1.7 million bricks used to build the vast models in the store there is a booth that turns people into 4,502 pieces of Lego. The ‘Mosaic Maker’ is a world exclusive to the London store which scans the face like in a passport photo booth, and then converts the image into Lego pixels.
The flagship store is made up of two floors with jaw-dropping replica models which took 10,000 hours to create. Brickley the dragon, complete with iconic London accessories of a bowler hat and black umbrella, is also coiled ready to welcome visitors.
The walls of the store are lined with sets to buy from Architecture, Star Wars, Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Friends, Lego City and to the cars and buildings of the Creator series. There is also the pick-a-brick wall- the master build station where you can add your own flair to London landscapes but get help to build an original design.
It is the subtle yet stunning details that make Lego so appealing to all ages and all levels of ability, from the stunning 3D landscape that cascades on the stairwell, to the ‘Mind the Gap’ tube station platform for people waiting to get in the lift, complete with dirt, litter and a tiny spider.
The store will be a must-see for Lego enthusiasts of every age, as well as tourists from all around the world descending on the English capital.