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All over the world, botanical gardens offer people a place to interact with an incredible diversity of plants in relaxing and tranquil spaces.
Now, we’re bringing that calm atmosphere, the diversity of plant life and the characters that they attract to your home with the LEGO® Ideas The Botanical Garden set.
Here are the 10 things you need to know about the new set.
The original submission was from Italian creator Valentina Bima. As a professional architect, Valentina has experience in designing buildings, and this design came from her love of botanical gardens and their relaxing atmosphere.
After the set was selected for production, Chris McVeigh joined as lead designer, with Matthew Parsons on board for graphics and Nicola Belfiore and Esmee Wilhelmina Jozefina Maria Kuenen as element designers.
Chris was excited to work on this set. “Valentina’s concept model was so detailed and so inspiring,” he says. “I couldn’t wait to get started!”
Chris particularly enjoyed this aspect of the design and has filled the new set with a variety of different plants and trees, including date palm, eucalyptus tree, Japanese maple, ice cream tulip, purple hydrangea, bird of paradise, anthurium, pitcher plant, cactus and many more.
“It was fun to create so many tiny plants,” says Chris. “The addition of two new flower elements meant that I could design LEGO flowers no one had ever seen before.”
Element designer Nicola agrees: “It was fun to expand our library of flower elements. I’m very excited to see how they will be used in the future!”
In order to allow builders to interact with the interior, Chris designed it to have three removable roofs.
“The Botanical Garden has one of the largest all-window roof structures we’ve ever created,” says Chris.
To make the roof not only see-through but also removable, the element team developed a brand-new corner wall element.
“We designed this window element to evoke Victorian architecture,” says Nicola. “I think we achieved a very classic look while also ensuring the stability of the roof.”
Botanical gardens attract a lot of different types of people, and graphic designer Matt Parsons wanted this to be reflected in the set.
“We wanted to make sure that every character had a small storyline, which meant in most cases they were paired together,” says Matt.
“We’ve got a grandfather and granddaughter visiting the gardens together, and the granddaughter is taking the audio tour. We’ve also got a mother and son exploring the gardens, and the son has cheekily picked a flower for his mother.”
The mother also has a shocked face as the flowers at botanical gardens are not really supposed to be picked!
Visitors will have the option of enjoying a coffee or a snack at the coffee shop inside. This gave the team a chance to bring in a hidden surprise in the plants.
“We also have a barista serving coffee and muffins,” says Chris. “And because we have a coffee shop, we also knew we wanted a coffee plant!”
Botanical gardens are not just about the sights, they’re also about the sounds and the smells. The team have represented this part of the experience through one particular minifigure.
“There is one minifigure with a visual impairment,” says Matt. “This was really important for us, and we talked a lot about how that character would experience The Botanical Garden.”
“We have four distinct birds,” says Chris. “A northern cardinal on the balcony at the back, a sparrow, a yellow warbler on the fountain outside and, because you often see this in botanical gardens, we also have a bird that has made a nest at one end of the gardens!”
While it is perfect for play or to help you unwind, this model measures over 8.5 in. (22 cm) high, 20 in. (51 cm) wide and 10 in. (25 cm) deep and will also make a delightful display.
At 3,792 pieces, this is a large set, but one that is sure to be an enjoyable and engaging build.
“We wanted this model to have the same vibe as a real botanical garden,” says Chris. “Very calm, very welcoming, fun to build.”
