MOC Lego College......with a twist !

[drdavewatford]

OK – here’s a MOC with a difference……..all will be revealed !

For reasons that will become clear, I needed to design and put together a building. It needed to fit in to a very specific space alongside some of my official LEGO modulars, and it needed to not look too out of place against the creations of the LEGO professionals !

I looked around for inspiration, and eventually found pictures online of a beautiful old building in Scotland, the Edinburgh School of Architecture :

Edinburgh School of Architecture

My brief was therefore to design something inspired by this lovely old building.

I had never used Lego Digital Designer, but thought that this project would be a good way to get some experience with it. After spending far too much time swearing at the screen, trying to get pieces to fit in the right places, trying to figure out the zoom and rotate functions, I eventually managed to produce something which I was happy with. I duly ordered the parts, paid for them, and they arrived a few days later. Instructions for the build were online, and I put it together over a few leisurely hours.

And here’s what I built – a College/University building to stand beside my official modulars :

I struggled for a while to try and recreate the double and triple arches from my inspiration, using only pieces available from LDD. I wasn’t 100% happy with the results, but couldn’t figure out a way to hide the studs from the top of the arches. I was however happy enough to accept the result.

I borrowed a number of techniques I’d learned from building Fire Brigade, Green Grocer etc., for instance the dark bley tiling against the light bley brickwork on the outer edges of the building, the lamp post, the balcony etc.. I admit that the orange stripes aren’t very ‘realistic’, but I wanted to add a splash of colour, and figured I deserved some artistic license !

Here’s the college from an oblique angle :

Here's an alternative view of the facade :

And here it is from the side :

No windows on the sides, but we’ll get to the reasons for that shortly…..

Both figures – the tutor and the student - were available to order via LDD. Here’s the tutor standing on the balcony :

And here’s a student loitering at the front door :

What’s not immediately obvious is that I tried to include a roof garden. It’s more ornamental than useful, but I thought it’d be more interesting than just adding a plain black roof.

Here, for completeness, are the boxes that LEGO shipped my parts in. They’re identical to each other :

So far, so unremarkable. Now for the twist….the problem I wanted to solve was that next to my row of modulars was a bunch of ugly computer equipment (external hard drive and a wireless hub) plus some receipts and stuff. It’s pretty much fixed due to the location of my Mac and other equipment :

What I wanted to do was to construct something that would hide all this kit, and there’s the twist – this College is hollow, and built so as to accommodate and hide all the equipment :

I think it does a pretty good job of hiding the mess (although you can just about see the blue light from the external hard drive through the windows if you look closely), and doesn’t look TOO out of place…..

Here’s the whole of this modular row, which includes the Grand Emporium, Fire Brigade, Market Street (minus the market !) and then my MOC College. Café Corner and Green Grocer are elsewhere on the desk and out of shot.

Now you can see here where all of the equipment crams inside the college. Looks very simple, but it wasn’t as easy as I’d expected – removing the back means no rear support for the roof, so it’s not as stable as I’d like, particularly with the additional weight of the roof garden to be factored in.

As it’s a college, sometimes students and tutors from other places of learning come to visit. Here you can see students and tutors from Hogwarts (set 4709) on a day visit !

Happy building, and thanks for reading.

Dr. D.

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME - EXCELLENT - BEAUTIFUL !

What a modular design 'drdavewatford' - really the simple wall rendering is really nice !

Great work and I'm a conformist! 'drdavewatford' I'm a conformist! !

[greg3]

That looks fantastic!! A really beautiful building - I especially love the window design and the fact it's designed to hide your computer bits is genius!! (shame it means no interior though!!)

[Princess Storm]

That is so clever! Useful and beautiful :)

I was thinking earlier today that a school would be good for the Town theme, either modular or ordinary (?) scale.

[Sandy]

It's quite pretty in it's simplicity, yes. I agree that the window technique is its highlight.

The student in front seems to be quite young for a college student, don't you think?

[prateek]

Nice! Even though it looks simple, I feel your pain trying to make it as stable as possibel

[Zorbas]

Great work!

The front part really captures the eye and the windows look very beautiful -- it is the highlight of the building. I also like the colours you've used because they match perfectly together.

The initial purpose of doing this is very creative! Kudos drdavewatford!

[Zepher]

Very nice. Fits in well, and the windows are a treat. I'd advise some points of interests somewhere, however. The whole build is a little bland, you need something to draw in the eye. Maybe put something over the windows, or some design on the roof, or even over the doors. It looks a little unexciting on a whole, but the structure and intergration are well done! The orange stripes and windows are my favorite parts... I really like the windows.

I'm editing a little after a little review. It isn't actually that bland when standing alone, only compared to the other buildings, and then not even as much as I orginally thought. Good job!

Edited May 16, 2010 by Zepher

[BlueBard]

Great design! I really like the idea of the garden in the roof, and the way you built the windows

[squiz]

Wow thats great ! Really fits in with the other sets. Even better it has a purpose other than just sitting on your desk ! (which is what most of my lego does !)

[drdavewatford]

Thanks very much for all the compliments !

The relatively 'unfussy' design was deliberate - I think too many details and unnecessary features can have a detrimental effect. Market Street is a good example - while I love the colour scheme and overall design, it's a little too fussy for my liking, trying to cram too many details into too small a space.

I think if I was to change one thing about my MOC it would be to try to raise the height a little. When it's standing on its own the height is fine, but alongside the modulars it could maybe use more height. I could certainly have taken a lesson from Market Street here - I adore its raised front door and 'sub basement' level which raises the structure by 4 bricks. No reason why I couldn't borrow this design, although probably best not to have my MOC next to Market Street if I decided to to this.....!

Cheers,

Dr. D.

Edited May 16, 2010 by drdavewatford

[Brick & Mortimer]

Nice and elegant MOC!

A real clever way to expand your modular street without taking up additional space

...

Even better it has a purpose other than just sitting on your desk ! (which is what most of my lego does !)

Same here

Edited May 18, 2010 by Brick & Mortimer

[Commodore Hornbricker]

A very nice structure. It looks excellent in your town layout.