But do I NEED a bathroom and stairs...?

[Lego Mike]

I've just sorted my bricks for about the fifth time this year, and I can't avoid it any longer: It's time to build something.

I've had dozens of ideas for minifig scale buildings, but I've just been put off by the time it takes and, most of all, not having all the bricks I need. But I just need to go all in and see what I can come up with.

I have a couple of questions, though, and I just want to get some general feedback and what you guys think. And of course, yeah, it's ultimately up to me. As I said, I just want to get some perspective.

1. Does it really matter if a building doesn't have a bathroom/restroom? Like, in your estimation, does an apartment or whatever strike you as odd if it doesn't have something like that? The Fire Brigard modular (10197) doesn't have one, nor do most of them, come to think of it.

2. Do multi-floor buildings really need stairs? I think they take up space and don't really add much to the overall project. If you saw a three- or four-floor building without stairs, would you wonder "What the..."?

I guess what I mean is, what are some elements that really probably most likely should be in a minifig scale building?

Edited October 15, 2018 by Lego Mike

[koalayummies]

There are some modular builders who skip out on doing interiors. Its personal preference but others may view it as being incomplete.

Since you are asking though yes it is weird if a building doesn't have a bathroom and more so if its lacking stairs or elevator for upper floor access. The modular buildings are about making more realistic minifigure scaled structures; if you want realism these things are in real world buildings and should be in a modular as well. Not all the official sets have bathrooms but they all have upper floor access. 

If its about limited parts or interior space you could do an outhouse style toilet in the back and put a staircase on the exterior like PR and DD.

[Lyichir]

Even if you're building interiors, it's always a judgment call about how you want to use the space. Very few models aside from massive ones tend to include all of the expected features of that type of building, even ones considered "essential" (for instance, while a few modular building sets have included restrooms none have featured a shower or bath).

Personally, I'd view stairs or some other way to get from floor to floor to be worth including just because ways to get into or out of a room usually make a space feel more interesting and "complete". Bathrooms I'd consider more of an option—they can add a great element of humor to a build but if you want to focus more on a building's more intrinsic features (be it a home, restaurant, or some type of public building), they're somewhat superfluous.

[deraven]

Like the others here, I think it depends on the type of project and what you're wanting the focus of the build to be.  If you're building a residence, it seems like it ought to have a bathroom.  If it's a public building, it obviously should have one IRL, but I think most people don't miss it if it's not included.

I think stairs or an elevator are more of a necessity myself, but if you're really squeezed for space on something I'd omit the bathroom first, stairs second if necessary.  I think stairs or elevators can add interior architectural detail and more interest overall of the MOC.

I find upper floor(s) accessibility to be less missed on builds in the Classic Town style (smaller buildings, open back for play access), but if it's something like a Modular I think people will ask "how do the minifigs get to the other floors" before "where do the little plastic people go to the bathroom"?  

[dr_spock]

It's really up to you.  Classic Town and CITY don't come with washrooms.   Maybe boys aren't all that interested in cleaning toilets.  Larger Friends sets come with bathroom.  Even their camper van has a bathroom/shower. 

Elevator could be another option if space is too tight for stairs. 

 

[Mylenium]

11 hours ago, Lego Mike said:

1. Does it really matter if a building doesn't have a bathroom/restroom? Like, in your estimation, does an apartment or whatever strike you as odd if it doesn't have something like that?

2. Do multi-floor buildings really need stairs? I think they take up space and don't really add much to the overall project. If you saw a three- or four-floor building without stairs, would you wonder "What the..."?

I find that both these things always surprise me positively and make me smile when I build LEGO's stock Modular Buildings, so I'd definitely at least try to cram in one of the two. It also helps to structure the interior and/ or add interest. It also shouldn't be that much of an issue to at least add a stair going from the ground floor to the first one even if you don't continue further to the other levels. It's a perceptive thing and the mere hint makes your building feel more logical and real. You can also observe this on smaller buildings from the Creator 3 in 1 series.

Mylenium

[Kristel]

Ultimately, it doesn't matter.  Having said that, I always feel compelled to put in stairs and, if its residential, a bathroom as well.

[ReplicaOfLife]

Personally, I rather omit the bathroom than the stairs. Not having stairs feels very weird to me, not having a bathroom is unfortunate, but having nicely detailed rooms makes up for it. Sometimes, I also only do incomplete bathrooms, so e.g. it'll have a toilet, but no shower, or vice versa.

In my mind, minifigs are much more sociable than humans and thus have no problem at all to just pop into their neighbours flat if they have to let go of some digested ABS, or need to wash all that grime from the big hands moving them about off their skin. Often they'll stay for a chat, or a coffee, or whatever else is lying around in the kitchen.

Confining them to floors with no way to enter/leave, on the ther hand, is just cruel.

[Pate-keetongu]

My modulars lack floors and interior walls. As I keep my models eclosed, they wouldn't be visible anyway, and concentrating on the exterior shell of the building makes it possible to use available time and parts to facade detailing and the massing. For most of us, LEGO is a hobby - It's best to do what you feel happy doing, no matter if it's odd or not. If you have cool ideas for bathroom, go for it. Bathroom furnishing and accessories offer plenty of possiblities.

As a completely another way of look this question, I study architecture in the university and making stairs in an apartment is very painful in terms of space management; Also, LEGO's premade stair pieces, with steps one stud deep and one brick in height, are way too steep for any standards; Such stairs might be found on medieval castles. Measures of minifigs (and ordinary pieces) makes actual realism hard, and not very fun. Official modulars are also quite small for late 19th century city buildings they present - such buildings usually have common stairway with doors to apartments, which size and number is based on constructor's needs. It would be impossible to fit several flats per level in LEGO's modulars, with bathrooms, kitchens and all. Fortunately, this is not needed, as it's hobby and fun.

Of course, many stairwells are splendid pieces of arcitecture, historical or modern, and they can add a lot for a model.

[SuperChiefer84]

The bathroom on my Destiny's Bounty is a nice touch with toilet paper and all haha

[Lego Mike]

16 hours ago, Pate-keetongu said:

Also, LEGO's premade stair pieces, with steps one stud deep and one brick in height, are way too steep for any standards

Cool. My undergraduate degree is in historic preservation and history.

Right, though -- the Lego system scale is really wonky when it comes to minifigures. That's just part of the design process for the rest of us. The key to remember when designing something for minifigures (or most other things in Lego) is that it's overall much more impressionistic than anything. Accuracy on the minifigure scale will drive you nuts if that's your priority!

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, everyone! I'll start tossing handfuls of bricks onto a baseplate and see what happens. I think I'll skip the bathroom and just stick some second-floor stairs on the side of the building (right now I'm thinking of a first-floor temple with a living space on the second floor).

[Aanchir]

If you’re going to have an interior, it can be nice to add some features like this that create a sense of authenticity, but how far you go with it is your call. As another example, a lot of the LEGO Friends houses are rich in detail, but even so have just one bedroom rather than separate bedrooms for different family members. And often buildings that hinge open like the Simpsons House and Haunted House IMPLY more rooms than they actually have, since the rooms on opposite sides of the hinge lack a wall to separate them when closed. And even then the Simpsons House — maybe the closest we’ve seen in any set to a realistic suburban family home — is massive enough that it probably would feel decidedly out-of-place in many more traditionally scaled LEGO Town/City displays.

A nice thing if you go with a modular format of any kind is that you have complete freedom to later add more rooms and/or floors if you want the building to feel more complete. But when people are looking at or even playing with a MOC, most of the time as long as there are enough fun details it DOES have, they may not be too worried about which it doesn’t.

Even in high-detail series like Friends or Elves or the modular buildings, many features that are always a delight to see like stairs and bathrooms and bedrooms and kitchens are far from universal even across the types of locations you might expect to have them in real life. And often there are even practical concerns that many viewers might overlook at a glance. It’s delightful that Grand Emporium has escalators, but since it only has one per floor it’s technically impossible for customers to go both down and up a floor on the same escalator! Knighton Castle from Nexo Knights has beds for all of the main knights as well as their younger companions Robin and Ava, but none for the actual king and queen. Many buildings in any number of themes lack fire escapes, and hardly any are wheelchair-accessible (of the Modular Buildings, Town Hall is the only one with an elevator/lift, and getting to that lift from outside whether via the front or back door requires climbing a flight of stairs). 

The amazingly detailed interior of the LEGO Friends Sunshine Catamaran also has an absurdly low ceiling clearance in some parts of the ship when the top deck is attached. Never mind how getting into most of Assembly Square’s upstairs businesses or its one apartment requires cutting through either one or two other businesses. One wonders how the AFOL in the third story apartment enters or leaves their home outside of business hours, since they rely on both the bakery AND the dentist’s office to reach the stairs to their apartment!

Edited October 18, 2018 by Aanchir