Chris McVeigh takes us behind the design of the LEGO® Icons Natural History Museum

LEGO® Icons Natural History Museum (set 10326) is the first-ever museum to join the Modular Buildings collection – from brick-built exhibits and dual skylights to an epic Brachiosaurus skeleton and exciting collection of treasures. Let’s unearth the secrets of its creation...

We caught up with LEGO Senior Designer, Chris McVeigh, to delve deep behind the scenes of the museum's creation. He talks about choosing the olive-green color scheme and unveils the design secrets that brought this magnificent creation to life. Grab your ticket, it’s time to enter the museum...

Tell us, why the Natural History Museum?

The idea of doing a museum had been sitting in the background for a while. We thought a Natural History Museum would be most effective because of the potential scope of the concept, such as geology and paleontology! From very early on, we knew that we wanted to include a dinosaur – a dinosaur so tall that the neck would go right up into the second floor! Many dinosaurs are wider than they are tall, but with the Brachiosaurus – or should we say, Brickiosaurus! – skeleton, we had the opportunity to compress the width and extend the height. This allowed us to have it located on one side of the museum, extending up through the floor and into the next level!

Tell us a little more about the overall design...

We designed it to feel like a small neighborhood museum, while also being big and iconic. We wanted to create the sense that it was full of history, and had stood there for a very long time, so we added details like Ionic columns, a triangular pediment and a European-inspired roof aesthetic. From our very first conversations, we decided it should be 48 studs wide – the same width as Assembly Square (set 10255) – making it only the second modular set to have a 48-stud-wide brick base. The museum was one of those sets that demanded the larger footprint – to give the impression of a truly massive building, it needed the additional breathing room.

What about the inclusion of LEGO history references?

The inclusion of LEGO history references in the Natural History Museum is a deliberate choice, to add a layer of nostalgia and storytelling for fans. Not only does it allow for open interpretation of the characters and stories for different builders, but it also plants subtle story clues to those who may recognize the references. But I won’t go into too much detail, that would spoil the fun... But perhaps fans reading this can see if they can spot them all!

Now onto the color – olive green. What made you choose this color scheme?

The olive-green color had not been used extensively since the Parisian Restaurant (set 10243), and it was exciting to reintroduce it for the vibrancy it adds to the building's facade. Of course, the decision to use it as the primary color for the museum went through a careful selection process. We tested three different colors and compared them with the previous buildings in the Modular Series to assess their fit, ensuring a cohesive look. The unanimous choice was olive green with tan trim and dark tan accents!

Were there any new elements or printed elements introduced in this set?

We didn't introduce any new elements – it was designed to be economical in terms of the parts used, like using white bananas for the Brachiosaurus skeleton’s ribcage. However, we did make some color changes to existing elements to accommodate the olive-green color scheme, such as an A3 leaf element that I recolored white to give the cherry blossom tree a more layered look.

Was the decision to include a toilet in the set based on a new standard for modular buildings?

This wasn't based on a new standard, but rather, it's a tacitly acknowledged feature that fans have come to appreciate in modular buildings. We aim to fully equip our modular buildings with all facilities, and it was important to have a toilet in this museum.

Unusual for a modular, this building is perfectly symmetrical. Tell us a little bit about that...

This was a pretty big decision for us, but as museums are almost always symmetrical, it didn’t feel right to make this one asymmetrical, just for the sake of it! We decided it’d be more effective to give an element of asymmetry to the decoration on the facade, so we introduced the tree on one side and the scaffold with the window washer on the other.

What is your favorite part of the set?

Apart from the color, I love the fact that we have the cherry blossom tree on the modular. It was a late decision after we changed the color to green – we needed the tree to pop against the building, so we changed it to a cherry blossom. Then I added some extra storytelling by including some cherry blossoms that had blown off. You’ll see a couple on the street and a couple on the top of the roof – there's just something I like about the simplicity of it.

From a technical perspective, I like how I was able to resolve some of the building challenges. The roof is a good example – it’s very thin, meaning there were some challenges with construction. I essentially had to make sure there were two spines reaching all the way across, to give it rigidity!

And finally, who are the statues outside the museum meant to represent?

That is completely open to your imagination! The sculptures were one of the concepts that made it right the way through from sketch to production (although details like the hairpieces and the staff design changed). They’re not tied to any sort of mythology, so who knows, maybe these two characters are the founders of the modular street? Anything is possible!