Lego teams up with Formula 1 to create new family activities at Billund’s Lego House
A visit to Lego House kickstarts a brick-built Porsche and a deep dive into the company’s four-wheeled collaborations
Lego House has launched a Ready, Set, Build experience to encourage Formula 1 fans to visit the company’s iconic headquarters in Denmark. The new activity will inspire families and children of all ages to design and test their own Lego race cars, then put them through their paces in a series of interactive challenges.
Lego House from above
It's not just about building a car either. Visitors to Billund become the engineers, experimenting with aerodynamics, speed and performance. They also take on pit-stop style build challenges, with giant F1-themed installations throughout the Lego House, all part of an ongoing partnership with the sport that has activations at the Miami Grand Prix and elsewhere.
The life-size Lego F1 car at Lego House
Known as the ‘Home of the Brick’, the Bjarke Ingels-designed Lego House has become a bucket list destination for build enthusiasts. Filled with more than 25 million bricks, the Jutland attraction – a 90-minute flight from Heathrow - is the ultimate hands-on day out.
Lego House
Lego’s automotive history now dates back decades. The company first offered model vehicles made of plastic or metal in 1953, long before the DIY modern brick system existed. Models of real world cars and trucks like the Volkswagen Beetle and Ferguson tractor thrilled children, until Lego designers finally reinvented the wheel.
The Tree of Creativity at Lego House
The arrival of the Lego wheel in the early Sixties saw rubber ‘tyres’ mounted on plastic wheels, with a metal axle that could be plugged into a specific brick. Set 400 launched in 1962 and marked a massive evolution in model building, allowing children to create their own wheeled vehicles for the first time. Since then, Lego cars have become some of the brand’s most popular sets.
The store at the Lego House
From the Batmobile to the James Bond Aston Martin DB5, The Back to the Future DeLorean to the Lamborghini Countach, there's a Lego kit for every four-wheeled eventuality. Today, the detail on modern Lego Technic sets – the most advanced line of building kits – is staggering. The 3,599-piece Bugatti Chiron featured a modelled W12 engine with moving pistons and originally cost around £450, rather more than my first road car.
The Red Zone at Lego House
If that’s beyond your skillset or budget, the Red Zone at Lego House is a vibrant play area where enthusiasts can let their imagination run wild. Beside a giant, cascading waterfall built from 2 million bricks, I set about creating a replica of the Porsche 911 Targa that brought me to Billund.
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Porsche 911, Lego 10295
With a huge smorgasbord of colourful bricks at every turn, Lego fans from around the world are here designing their own unique creations. However, built in an era when Lego consisted of simple bricks and not much else, I’m helped by a master builder who could probably knock up a Porsche with his eyes shut.
Porsche 911, Lego 10295
Surrounded by intimidating Lego masterpieces, including life-size dinosaurs, planes, trains and automobiles, my modest motor looks a rather feeble effort. Other Porsche 911s kits are available off the shelf but at least none are quite like this – one that includes a matching ‘mini me’ figure.
Our author's Lego doppelganger, complete with Porsche 911
Lego House so proud of its Danish roots that a special edition ‘I Love Billund’ miniature of the building is now available exclusively at the venue. The 1,404-piece set costs £88.
I Love Billund: build your own Bjarke Ingels
Lego House spokesman, Sven Bering Andersen, said: ‘We wanted to capture not just the landmarks but the feeling of what the town means to us. Billund is at the heart of our story. It’s where Lego play began and where it keeps evolving. This place reflects how a small Danish town grew into the global home of play and creativity.’
For opening hours, tickets, and more information, visit LegoHouse.comPorsche 911 Lego, set 10295, £149.99, Lego.com