James May to live in the world’s first LEGO house.
It’s only been a month since Top Gear host James May announced that he’s building the world’s first life-sized LEGO house. Now, two-million bricks later, we see that the house is nearing completion. Would you have pictured a rainbow block in a vineyard? But then again I wasn’t expecting a mansion either. Nevertheless, this is quite a commendable effort and I echo May’s concerns that he won’t wake up in a pile of bricks, which I guess is the only case you wouldn’t want that to happen.
Thanks for the tip Mac!
August 31st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I was not expecting the wooden frame. In fact, I guess that if he was living in a truly LEGO house, it would be completely bricked, like what we build.
I still don’t think it’s a good idea though. What happens when the next storm comes through?
August 31st, 2009 at 3:30 pm
There… there are no windows.
???
It looks like the houses I used to make, but way bigger. =P
August 31st, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I knew it was going to be a farce from the first mention of it, but I can’t believe they’re touting it as “the world’s first house made entirely from Lego” when anyone looking at the pictures can clearly see the non-Lego structure that actually makes it a house. The brick is there just to cover up the framing.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! ;)
September 1st, 2009 at 2:08 am
I don’t think it’s half bad, it’s horrendous, what an awful color scheme !! A missed opportunity in terms of artistry – May’s really unimaginative in this cost-cutting endeavour where folks are urged to donate bricks. Why didn’t he open his personal millionaire wallet and spent some time designing together with people who know their stuff to make this a landmark to remember, e.g. the outer walls should’ve been inspiring mosaics to say the least. Architectural/Aesthetic points : zero, anyone can make a huge rectangular wall given an unlimited amount of bricks. Why not put a gargoyle on the roof ? Etc…
I really honest to god think the world would’ve been better off without this moc… this certainly falls in the bottom tier of brickshelf creations.
(for the record, i’m only judging what I see so far, let’s hope for a miracle and that he’s going to spent some months on the finishings of the house)
September 1st, 2009 at 2:36 am
If you click through to the Daily Mail article, it looks as though there ARE windows. I also wonder whether the wooden frame is there purely for construction purposes, and will be removed when the house is complete?
Guess we’ll have to wait and see..
September 1st, 2009 at 2:37 am
Some people are hard to please.
I think it looks great, and think about the windows, how can it have windows made of LEGO?
And what’s to say that they will not be removing the wood?
Like it how they have made big bricks then put them together.
Anyone care to build better?
September 1st, 2009 at 3:59 am
Having visited this (twice!), I can say that the wooden framework is there for health and safety only – the bricks don’t touch the wooden beams. The floors are wooden panels, but they’re trying to put in self-standing beams made of 8×16 bricks above these. I doubt it’ll happen though…
In regard to windows, there are numerous 6×6 trans panels inserted into the bricks in the walls, to give light whilst keeping the walls strong. On the bottom side, there was a full-sized panelled window (which slotted into the “hole” you can see in some of the photos), which was then removed because the architect wanted to put in a “stained glass” one.
I’ve got photos here if you want some additional proof ;-)
September 1st, 2009 at 5:20 am
thanks for taking the time to explain slyOwl.
all my previous ranting aside, I have to admit this is quite a feat from an engineering point of view, certainly when the scaffolding is just there for safety. Any idea how much layers of 8×16 they’re going to use for a floor ? How much space between beams / supporting walls. And why not use 12×24, those are kinda unbreakable lol ( is this a question of availability / out of production ) ? Now i’m starting to wonder if the toilet flushes with bricks. Or color lime 1×1 round plates, that would be gross haha :-D
September 1st, 2009 at 5:56 am
I wonder of the giraffe tail/willy ended up in the wall somewhere…
September 1st, 2009 at 7:10 am
Someone build a giant Lego trebuchet and kill this thing please.
September 1st, 2009 at 10:02 am
Thanks for the gallery SlyOwl… I’m still not sold, but I’m willing at least to give it some leeway. I just hope they address it directly when they present it and show some better construction photos to support the claims.
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 am
@SlyOwl, are you from the UK?
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:38 am
@dirk_vh – I’m guessing it’s because they stopped making 12x24s last year. I haven’t a clue about the size of the beams, but they had loads of bley 8x16s in boxes.
The toilet and shower should be interesting to see, although I’m guessing they’re going to glue them.
@talltim – Sure thing! London born and bred.