26 July 2009

Real Full-Size Livable LEGO House

According to this BBC Article, TV host James May is looking for volunteers to help him build a new house in Surrey - made entirely out of Lego bricks.
As part of his BBC series James May's Toy Stories, he plans to build a two-storey house in the middle of the Denbies Wine Estate, in Dorking. More than three million Lego bricks have been delivered to the site.

May will host a building day next Saturday, when members of the public can help him with the project. The house will be life-size with a staircase, toilet and shower, and May said once it was completed he intended to live in it for a few days. He said although the house would be temporary, there had still been various "planning hoops" to leap through.

"I've got a man working on a flushing Lego lavatory. We think it's possible. Things like power supply, sanitation and plumbing coming into the house are as they could be for a real building... everything within my Lego house must as far as possible be Lego," he said.

May said although he already had thousands of Lego bricks, he could not be sure there would be enough. "So if people do have bricks that aren't being used that they would be happy to donate to a very worthy pioneering Lego cause, then we'll be happy to take them off your hands."
First of all how do you get used to living in a place called "Dorking"? Then how do you get code authorities to signoff on a structure constructed entirely from combustible petrochemicals? I'm pretty sure Lego bricks don't have the kind of UV stabilizers that would allow them to remain outdoors for any length of time. But this would definitely be fun to build!