The magic of making a LEGO creation has captivated many generations. The connectable building bricks are perhaps one of the most classic children’s toys of all time, and the bedrock of a brand that has carefully shepherded the spirit of play and creativity throughout years of relevance, all across the world.
The LEGO Group recently unveiled the first phase of its new headquarters campus in Billund, Denmark. Designed by C.F. Møller Architects, the new campus will be fully completed in 2021, but as we begin to get into the holiday, and gift-giving spirit, we wanted to take a peek at what’s going on at the new home of that storied toy brand.
The story of the LEGO’s new HQ begins and ends with the idea of play – how we play, what it can encompass, and how we interact with others in the process.
“This idea of play is a very deep question for us, with many facets. We see children as our role model, and we challenge ourselves in how to think like them,” said Sudhir Saseedharan, Global Design Lead at LEGO, in a conversation with officeinsight. “Children are much more adaptable, and they don’t put things into boxes the way adults do. Play is a mindset and it’s very freeing, and we want our employees to have the freedom to create and to try something new. We want them to be future-driven.”
“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,” reads the press announcement unveiling the space. “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.”
In officeinsight interviews, we spoke with Mr. Saseedharan and Klaus Toustrup, partner and responsible architect at C.F. Møller Architects, to see the interworkings of the creative design process for LEGO.
“The initial brief asked for a space that was very efficient and very flexible, and generic enough to be able to adapt to changes,” said Mr. Toustrup. “We developed that space, but then LEGO came back to us wanting to inject more of the LEGO spirit into the design, and so we ended up removing some of the more generic elements.”
“The painting was a bit messy in a way, but you could see in the eyes of this boy how proud he was of what he had created. We took that painting and kept the image in our design office so that each person that came onto the team had a chance to see it and work from that perspective.”
Part of the architecture are two gigantic yellow LEGO bricks on the roof, visible as you land at the airport. Two entrances are marked with signature LEGO bricks as well – making it impossible for visitors to miss the character of the place they’re in.
The new HQ will hold 2,000 across 54,000 square feet, and 500 employees have already moved into two of the eight new buildings. The full campus includes play areas, lounges, and outdoor parks open to the public.
“In order to be able to use play as a signature element, we had to be very organized. We gave distinct identities to different zones of the building, called ‘neighborhoods’,” said Mr. Toustrup. “Within each neighborhood a central stair serves as a main junction meeting point.”
Each team’s neighborhood is a mix of individual and collaborative workspaces. Color is used to differentiate each neighborhood.
“We have a very strong trust-based culture, and the freedom to move and to work where you want – even if there isn’t a line of sight from a manager – is really important to us,” said Mr. Saseedharan. “But, we also needed to be able to find each other as well.”
Mr. Toustrup noted that LEGO has a very strong corporate value identity, and that leadership wanted their values to be felt throughout the entire headquarters:
“The ground floor is a reflection of the idea of LEGO being kind to its employees, in order for them to give their best back to the product.”
When finalized in 2021, a central area dubbed “People House” will offer a large auditorium, fitness center, arts and crafts workshop, café and accommodations for employees visiting Billund.
“We toned down the product side of things in the ‘People House’ because the leadership wanted people to be able to clear their mind of things LEGO-related to really relax,” said Mr. Toustrup.
Hugging the office’s oversized windows is a low wall on the interior and a wooden benching system intended to welcome people to sit, study and work, as well as displaying LEGO creations. Behind the bench are hidden electrical connecting the building systems.
“Mindfulness was very important to us – we’ve tried to create spaces where you can wind down,” Mr. Toustrup said. “Every workspace is located next to a window, but we also focused on developing a high acoustic integrity, too.”
Sustainability was a top priority for LEGO, and in addition to several impressive sustainability measures included in the design, the leafy greens of the natural world are palpable everywhere.
“A big part of the design was the idea of creating a forest, and then to create a clearing in the forest for the building. There are green roof terraces, greenhouses, and a mini-golf course on-site. We worked to create an office atmosphere where interior and exterior could melt together.”
The roof of the nearby parking garage is covered with 4,150 solar panels to produce more than 1 million kWh, “which will supply half of the energy of the campus,” reads the project notes. “The exterior of the garage is decorated with a design inspired by LEGO road playmats in a nod to the company’s iconic products.”
“The rooftops of the new buildings are covered with Sedum plants which absorb water and CO2 and rainwater will be used to irrigate the green parks in the campus area. Inside, for example, the consultants chose a special gypsum fiber board material over standard materials because this stronger material requires less steel framing, saving 22 tons of steel and 650 tons of CO2 emissions.”
While the LEGO brand is full of bold colors and shapes, the C.F. Møller and LEGO design teams worked deliberately to find the perfect balance between play and work. The bright, powerful LEGO colors are placed at central meeting points, while employees will find much more subtle interiors in more work- and focus-oriented areas. Natural materials with a muted palette provide a clean backdrop for all of the LEGO creations sprinkled throughout the space.
“We wanted to create different kinds of stories and surprise moments, to really engage people moving throughout the entire space,” said Saseedharan. “We wanted to tell the stories of people of different cultures, of things like how energy is created from wind, of the impact of nature on our wellbeing. And graphics were an important part of how we were able to tell our story. For example, we took the theme of nature and mixed real plant life in with LEGO plants. You see it and you think, ‘Oh my god – that is so spectacular. Embracing nature, and showing that you can encounter nature in so many forms, is very clearly expressed in the way we have planned everything.”
And who is responsible for building those LEGO creations? Many of them are “homemade”: employees can build and put up their own designs.
“This is a LEGO office, and cannot be any other office,” said Saseedharan. “It’s so conceptual and so uniquely us.”
And on that note, we’re off to purchase our first LEGO kit in quite some time!