Brick Builder area at LEGO House — Photo courtesy of LEGO
If there was ever a perfect physical representation of a brand, LEGO House is it. Located in Billund, Denmark, where the beloved toy was first created 90 years ago, the “Home of the Brick” is a must-visit for fans of all ages.
Built like 21 giant LEGO bricks that balance on each other, the 129,166.93 square foot building is designed to replicate an actual LEGO creation. It’s even designed to scale so fans can recreate it themselves. The façade is covered with tiles that look like classic 2×4 LEGO bricks and if you were looking down on it from high above, you would swear it was made of real LEGO bricks.
Masterpiece Gallery at LEGO House — Photo courtesy of LEGO
What exactly is LEGO House?
The brainchild and dream of Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, third-generation owner and chairman of the LEGO Group, LEGO House is a hands-on reflection of the brand’s philosophy, Learning Through Play. It’s filled with 25 million LEGO bricks, and every well-thought-out space is geared towards encouraging kids (and adults) to explore, imagine and create.
Believing “only the best is good enough,” Kristiansen hired award-winning Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG and a lifelong LEGO fan himself, to design his passion project. “If BIG had been founded with the purpose of building just one building, this was going to be the building,” Ingels proclaims in a fascinating documentary about the process. After almost four years of construction, LEGO House opened in 2017 and now welcomes more than 250,000 guests annually.
LEGO House features four different colored experience zones, each offering a variety of activities focused on a specific developmental skill: Red for creative, Blue for cognitive, Green for social and Yellow for emotional. Everything is interactive, empowering and fun. Plus, the wristband you’re given when you enter will save your memories from the day and allow your creations to interact in the digital world.
There’s also a Masterpiece Gallery showcasing inspiring fan creations and a History Collection that evokes a real sense of nostalgia as you relive your own childhood experiences with many of the classic sets on display.
The towering Tree of Creativity — Photo courtesy of LEGO
A couple of fun facts
The towering Tree of Creativity, which stands in the middle of LEGO House, is one of the biggest LEGO models in the world. Around 50 feet tall, it’s built from more than 6.3 million LEGO bricks. If you were to build it yourself, it would take 12 years.
A simple LEGO brick is responsible for the loud roaring of the gigantic LEGO dinosaurs in the Masterpiece Gallery. Want to know how it works? Look under their feet.
LEGO House from above — Photo courtesy of LEGO
How to visit
Although you can visit certain areas of LEGO House for free, including LEGO Square, the nine roof terraces with playgrounds, the LEGO Store and eateries, you’ll need to purchase tickets to access the other experiences. If you want to eat at Mini Chef, where you order food with LEGO bricks and get served by robots, be sure to make a reservation ahead of time.
Buy tickets online to save money and skip the line. Because LEGO House is located so close to LEGOLAND, you can buy a discounted combi ticket to immerse yourself in both.
After a full day of special experiences, one of the most profound actually occurs when you’re leaving. As a farewell gift, you’re handed a personalized little bag of 6 bricks – which you can watch being made – that features a random combination for building them. When you discover there are 915,103,765 combinations that can be made from just six 2×4 bricks, you begin to realize the infinite possibilities available to you in your life. And that is the real power of LEGO House. And the LEGO brick.
