My Modular Cafe

[kermit]

My first venture into modular buildings was the green grocer. I was hesitant of getting into modular buildings because I have always like open backed buildings as oppose to those that you have to remove the tops off. However after building the Green Grocer, Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium I became hooked. I wanted more and more modular buildings and I couldn`t wait a year to get a new one. Then i realized that its lego and that I don`t have to wait, I can build my own.

This project took me a year to build and was my first modular building. It originally started off as a corner building but then I changed my mind due to the lack of inspiration. I looked through the various mocs online and became overwhelmed by the different designs and couldnt decide from the hundreds of pictures how I want my building to look.

So I decided to go back to basics and look at the modular buildings that lego had created and start from there. I present to you my modular cafe.

P1450085 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450086 by legokermie, on Flickr

As you can see it is a three storey building that comprises a cafe on the first floor and living quarters on the second and third floor like the Green Grocer.

P1450096 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450097 by legokermie, on Flickr

Building the cafe sign was a bit tricky so I had to go back to the pet shop to figure out how to make it as simple as possible. It was originally going to be a pizza shop because I thought the red bricks fit a pizza shop but then I realized that the design above the door made it look like a chinese restaurant. However, since this was my first attempt of building a modular it all came down to simplicity. Cafe was the easiest sign to build.

P1450088 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450090 by legokermie, on Flickr

I wanted to make the half of the first floor different for the other half, so I made it in white and gave it a kind of greek architecture appearance. The plume pieces certainly helped to achieve this.

P1450089 by legokermie, on Flickr

This is the thrid floor. I tried using the plumes and the robot arms to give the windows a Gothic look.

P1450093 by legokermie, on Flickr

This is the back and sides of the building. There is a nice little tile path from the back door and a light up brick which i will show you later.

P1450099 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450101 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450103 by legokermie, on Flickr

The colour for the first floor began with the christmas promotional sets that we got back in 2011. I had three of these so i decided to use the new dark red bricks for the first floor.

P1450107 by legokermie, on Flickr

As you can the the interior or the first floor is incomplete. The same is also for the second and thrid floors. When I had finished the building I had started on the interior but modular fever bit me again and I moved onto building the building two other modular buildings. The interior will be completed at a later date. I added the chimney that I got from the Christmas promotional set in the first floor so that customers can sit and drink their coffee next to a warm and cozy fireplace. The light up bricks lights up the fireplace and also serves to light up the second floor too.

P1450110 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450111 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450115 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450105 by legokermie, on Flickr

The second floor was based off the second floor of the Town hall. I added lots of windows to give the room some light. The window on the right is a continuation of the architecture style of the right side of the first floor.

P1450116 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450120 by legokermie, on Flickr

The second floor is very spacious and I am thinking of making it the living room and kitchen. The middle part of the floor was build inwards due to ythe design of the first floor. Thia produced a headache for me because I was used to the modulars being full squares or rectangulars. I was able to pull it off though.

P1450119 by legokermie, on Flickr

The third floor was based off the third floor of the petshop. I like the design and feel of it so I decided to use it as my floor. It has that cozy loft feel to it.

P1450121 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450123 by legokermie, on Flickr

P1450124 by legokermie, on Flickr

The foof of the building is flat and bare because I hsve no idea what to put on it. I was thinking of a water tower but the fire brigade station already has one.

P1450118 by legokermie, on Flickr

Building this building was a challenge being my first modular moc. The hardest part i discovered was doing the design of the first floor. I found that with all modulars the first floor is always the hardest because it the part of the building that has the most details and it stes the tone and design of the other floors above. The second and thrid floors were the easiest to build. One of my fears was how to incoperate stairs. I was a little difficult building the stairs and then designing the hole on the floor above so that it lined up perfectly with the stairs. After building this modular building stairs is no longer a problem for me. After taking a year to complete (due to financing) I feel accompliched that I am now part of those great mocers on here that have created a modular building.

After building this cafe i immediately started on two other modulars and finished them within 4 months, and now I am working on two other modular building. Stay tune there is more to come for me.

Edited September 2, 2013 by kermit

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Very nice work so far kermit! It's very large for a first modular MOC. Can't wait to see what goes in the upper floors

[kermit]

I am making the upper floor the bedroom and bathroom. I wanted it to be a big building because I needed the experience of building one from scratch. I am still thinking whether to put a smoke stack on the roof though.

[King Aragorn]

I like the interior and the front doors!

[Dubai- Fan]

Yeah, cool project!

[jonwil]

Where did those dogs come from? Never seen them before. And whats the story with the flowers seen at the back? They dont look like the regular TLG flower element, they look different (unless of course its just the camera angle)

[kermit]

I am not sure about the flowers or the dog. I got them as free extras as part of a huge bricklink order I made for the parts for the building.