Can You Actually Live in a House Made of LEGO? | James May's Toy Stories

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:01][music] So, you think computer games are more exciting than old-fashioned toys?

[00:00:06][music] Maybe you should think again.

[00:00:18]With the help of the great British public, it's time to liberate [music] them from the toy cupboard, superersize them, and unleash their [music] true potential.

[00:00:34]>> [music] >> This week, Lego.

[00:00:45]>> Here we go.

[00:00:46]>> You probably have some in your house, but my house is made from it.

[00:00:51]>> 3 million Lego bricks.

[00:00:53]>> Three 3 million Lego bricks. But will it fall to pieces when I try and live in it for 24 hours?

[00:01:01]>> I think we need to improve that, don't you?

[00:01:04]>> The team may have artistic differences.

[00:01:07]>> No, no. We're here to look at furniture, not toys.

[00:01:10]>> That's wi o gauge. The cracks may show.

[00:01:15]We're going to have to try different solutions to different problems as they occur.

[00:01:20]>> But a smashing time is had by all.

[00:01:23]>> I DARE.

[00:01:28]THE HUMAN CONDITION is sadly divisive.

[00:01:32]But there are simple spiritual experiences that unite all of humanity in unqualified communal joy. Sex, the dance, foot massage, and to those, I would add, the simple sensation of pressing Lego bricks together. This is a joy that simply never diminishes.

[00:01:54]It is in fact a recognized form of therapy. Lego is also an unairring mathematical model and a handy tool for town planners. It is the world's premier rapid fire reusable constructional medium. Over 300 billion of these have been produced.

[00:02:13]And for what? For this.

[00:02:19]I think we can do better.

[00:02:23]Lego, which means play well [music] in Danish, is probably the most successful toy of all time. Whole theme parks have been built [music] from it, and it has spawned dangerous global subcultures populated by subversive artists and sculptors.

[00:02:40]In the 1940s, toy makers were still producing building blocks to ancient Egyptian standards, simple wooden pieces held together only by gravity.

[00:02:52]LEGO's genius [music] was twofold.

[00:02:54]Firstly, they used new fangled plastic.

[00:02:56]And secondly, they [music] perfected a system that made the bricks lock together, but allowed them to be pulled apart again. It was world changing stuff, and the Danes obviously knew they were on to some.

[00:03:09]This molding of bricks shows you all the possible clutch mechanisms, as they call it, that could have been incorporated into the standard Lego system. And the reason they did this was so that they could apply for a patent for all of them, which they got, which meant nobody could copy it or even come up with something a bit like it. It all belonged to Lego, even if it wasn't used.

[00:03:31]Amazingly though, the brilliance of Lego has never been fully exploited. It's time to use bricks like the I call it that because of the number of [music] studs on it, for something genuinely useful and before it's too late. 5 years ago when I made my first program about toys, I said there were 14 Lego bricks for every person on the planet. But now, apparently, there are nearly 50. So, it follows that within a generation, we're going to be angled deep in Lego, and we're going to have to find a new use for this stuff. In fact, we're probably going to have to think about building the real world out of Lego. Therefore, we need to be ready. So, what I've decided to do is order 3 million bricks and build myself a house. A real house.

[00:04:16]I'm going to live in it.

[00:04:20]I head off in search of the perfect building plot. Dorking, a staunchly conservative town in Surrey, may not seem the obvious location for anarchctic plastic architecture, but the fact that it's home to the biggest vineyard in the country did at least mean that the Lego cellar would be well stocked. Now, I'll be brutally honest with you. I was hoping to build my new second home in the city because the city is where I belong and I don't really understand the countryside, but no local authority would give me permission even when I promised them it was going to be brick built. But as a location for a country pile, this really isn't bad at all. I mean, it's nice and quiet. Not going to be disturbed by any pizza delivery boys on mopeds. And the view is magnificent.

[00:05:03]It's very English.

[00:05:05]The lawn's going to be fantastic when I get rid of these weeds.

[00:05:11]A radical house needs a radical architect. Barnaby Gunning has an impressive [music] CV, but more importantly, a ponytail, plus funny glasses, which we'll see in a minute.

[00:05:22]>> So, do you know what kind of house you want to do?

[00:05:23]>> Yeah. I want something very modern. I don't want it to be, you know, like the Lego models that you buy in the kits. I don't want it to be a Lego representation of some tiresome old Edwardian villa or something. I want a house that plays to the strengths of Lego and avoids its weaknesses in a way that a concrete house is designed differently from a brick house and that's designed differently from a wooden house cuz these materials have different properties. Exactly.

[00:05:43]>> It's not a house made of Lego. It's a Lego house.

[00:05:47]The basic design parameter of Lego says that the bricks must always stick together, but that a three-year-old should be able to separate it like that with the thumb. Therefore, everybody I've spoken to says it is impossible to make a structural beam or a girder, that sort of thing that we've got on the roof there, out of Lego because it won't be strong enough. But is that true? I've come to the City University in London to the faculty of toys to find out.

[00:06:20]This is Eva Weights of Engineering Consultants Attelier One. I have charged her with [music] rewriting the book of Lego physics and proving that a Lego beam can support a man.

[00:06:32]>> So, you've designed a Lego beam and is this designed in an engineeringy sort of way?

[00:06:38]>> This one's an open one, which we think won't work as well as the ones that have got plates on the bottom. And so, this one shows you what the internal structures like.

[00:06:46]>> So, we've got these what we call stiffeners um sort of every 250 mm or so. So, how do we actually test it?

[00:06:54]Stand on it, presumably.

[00:06:55]>> Uh, well, you could stand on it, but I think what we'll try and do is put it um between these two frames here and load it with some um of these weights here.

[00:07:04]>> I weigh a very reasonable 85 kg, but let's build up to that gently.

[00:07:09]>> 8 kg.

[00:07:12]>> 11.

[00:07:17]>> I think we need to improve that, don't you?

[00:07:20]>> 11 kg. It's rubbish. I >> think adding these plates might help it out.

[00:07:28]>> What are we up to? 16 kg. Let me just have a look.

[00:07:34]>> H. It's not very good, is it? Really?

[00:07:36]>> Let's give it a chance. The steel beam has benefited from a century and a half of development. And when we double the thickness of the Lego beam, we reach 39 kg and counting.

[00:07:47]>> So, you could open a book on this and bet build a Lego beam. Bet what weight it will sustain.

[00:07:54]>> That is incredible.

[00:07:56]>> 43.

[00:07:57]>> Oh, it's going mad.

[00:08:01]>> That's almost precisely half your weight, James.

[00:08:04]>> Now, was that really exciting or was it just me and I'm a bit of an idiot? I found that fantastically gripping.

[00:08:09]>> Yes.

[00:08:10]>> Why isn't it in the Olympics? Lego beam loading. This is something Britain could be great at.

[00:08:17]That you might think is why there are no Lego houses in the world. But that's defeist. I ask Eva to carry on with her efforts to defy the life's work of Isaac Newton while I slope off to do some internet shopping. Now, when you're small, you always wish that your box of Lego could be much bigger. And because I'm a grownup, I've realized I can have as much Lego as I like. So, I've bought myself a really massive box of Lego. In fact, this box which has got the orange eights in it is just one box of several hundred in my giant box of Lego. The rest of it is in here.

[00:08:52]Lego bricks. Loads of Lego bricks. These boxes go all the way to the back, all the way up to the top. I've got bags.

[00:08:57]There are 500,000 Lego bricks in this container. And I've got another five. 3 million Lego bricks. All mine.

[00:09:08]>> [music] >> Next, I go in search of Bob the Builder.

[00:09:12]Turns out his name is Vic, [music] and his clip on Lego hair has gone missing.

[00:09:16]>> What do you think of the idea of building a real house out of Lego bricks?

[00:09:21]>> Uh, first time I thought you was off your head, James, truthfully.

[00:09:24]>> But can we do it? Is it possible?

[00:09:26]>> It is possible. Anything's possible.

[00:09:28]>> Cuz in the end, it's going to involve a lot of putting Lego bricks together because it doesn't matter whether we make separate panels or we do it like a wall starting from the bottom. You can't get around the fact that you got to stick all those Lego bricks together and there's 3 million of them.

[00:09:41]>> 3 million?

[00:09:42]>> Yeah.

[00:09:42]>> 3 million Lego bricks.

[00:09:43]>> Three 3 million Lego bricks.

[00:09:47]>> Barnaby hasn't [music] actually finished the design yet. In fact, he hasn't even put proper trousers on. But he tells Vic and me that the first thing we [music] must do is take our Lego bricks and make them into Lego bricks. Hol breeze block-l like pieces like this. For this, we're going [music] to need help. So, we organize a sort of Lego garden party, but without food or drinks. We're amazed when over 2,000 people show up.

[00:10:12]>> Well, there's millions of the focus, >> especially as the sort of people who would know don't [music] seem to think that a Lego house is possible.

[00:10:20]>> I think the most difficult thing is everything basically because the size, the plumbing, the toilets, and everything really, isn't it?

[00:10:28]>> The TV I think is going to need a lot of engineering. I have a feeling it might not be strong enough to hold its own weight.

[00:10:35]>> Right in you come. [cheering] >> You thinking of staying for a while?

[00:10:42]>> Hello.

[00:10:44]>> Don't blame her.

[00:10:49]Right. Listen up workforce. You've effectively been employed in the Victorian workhouse on a repetitive task of [music] great simplicity for which there is no reward. You are making the building blocks of the big house out of the small bricks. [music] They must be squeezed together properly.

[00:11:04]If any brick is compromised, it actually compromises the structure of the whole house cuz it's all a bit marginal. Carry on.

[00:11:14]There's 272 small Lego bricks that makes a Lego block that we will be incorporating into the house. To give you a rough idea, on the 6 m wall, you'll need 203 blocks and that is approximately 55,000 and change of small Lego groups. So, it's a phenomenal amount.

[00:11:30]>> My message about the Victorian work ethic hasn't quite got through. Some people think they can just turn up and play with my Lego >> digital photo frame. It's a virtual digital photo frame. Yeah.

[00:11:45]>> What's all this? You've hardly touched them. Come on.

[00:11:47]>> We're on our killing them.

[00:11:50]>> Keep going. No slacking.

[00:11:51]>> Have you made any bricks?

[00:11:53]>> I've made two. [laughter] >> No point keeping dogs and barking yourself as the army used to say. Vic, >> I use Vic to quell any signs of dissent in the ranks.

[00:12:03]>> All these floss done.

[00:12:04]>> It's affordable housing.

[00:12:07][laughter] >> Hold on. See, that's not right. You haven't got them overlapping, have you?

[00:12:11]You've got it wider at one end than the other. Vic. Vic. Eventually, the threat of a visit from Vic has the desired effect. Goes at a phenomenal rate.

[00:12:24]>> Faster, faster.

[00:12:27]This is [snorts] actually going better than I thought because some people who are good at this can make something like 8 or 10 bricks in an hour. If we've got about 800 people, well, you can do the arithmetic yourself. It's a huge number of bricks and there's a massive pile over at the back. I'm very impressed. I think it might work.

[00:12:42]Keep going.

[00:12:46]God, this is miserable, isn't it?

[00:12:51]>> Well, we're halfway through the session on this glorious English summer's day, and this good-natured weekend crowd have produced almost 2 and a half thousand bricks. So, by the end of the day, we could be well on our way to 4,000. And that's absolutely terrific. I'm I'm moved and grateful.

[00:13:12]What we're doing here [music] is turning a supposed toy into the modular realworld building material of the future. Not everyone grasps [music] this.

[00:13:20]>> If I found out that one of my friends or my boyfriend was playing with Lego in the evening, um I hate to say that I probably would think twice about going out with them or twice about being seen socially with them.

[00:13:34]>> It's kind of more of a one-off, I think, to play with Lego at this age. It's It's not really the the dumb thing. Do I still play with Lego? I couldn't possibly answer that. [laughter] >> Nevertheless, by the end of the day, the sense of common purpose that made [music] Britain great has turned over a million of my bricks into bricks. We have here approximately 3,800 bricks that now simply need to be clipped together into the form of a giant house.

[00:14:02]And that is a job for Vic.

[00:14:09]>> [music] >> But before Vic can even order the site tea bags, Barnaby needs to sort out [music] the final design and his trousers. And Eva needs more time to work on the beams. [music] So, in the meantime, I apply myself to the furniture and the color scheme. Interior [music] designer Christina Fall will be my mentor. She favors a sort of total immersion approach to her subject.

[00:14:31]>> So, what is the object of this exercise apart from looking stupid? Okay.

[00:14:36]>> I'm speaking for myself.

[00:14:37]>> Well, I don't exactly look um like a runway model in this.

[00:14:41]>> No, you don't. But I wasn't going to say that.

[00:14:42]>> Okay. Um basically what we're going to do is the Lego blocks of various primary colors. And so that we can visualize together what a wall is going to look like in the house, I thought we'd paint it.

[00:15:00]>> So what I'm doing here in a very elaborate way is telling you what colors I like.

[00:15:03]>> Exactly. But also, >> why did I just tell you?

[00:15:06]>> Do you like yellow because it's a happy color?

[00:15:10]>> Yeah. I don't know. Actually, it's yellow, isn't it?

[00:15:14]>> Come on, Jules. You're slow. This is meant to be natural and fun.

[00:15:18]>> When did I become jewels?

[00:15:20]>> Oh, sorry, James.

[00:15:22]>> Jeles, >> I think the color scheme should simply reflect the gay colored nature of Lego itself. [music] Christina seems to favor something more subliminal. Where are your sympathies these days?

[00:15:34]>> With what?

[00:15:35]>> Political.

[00:15:37]>> I have none.

[00:15:38]>> Good. Oh.

[00:15:41]>> Oh dear.

[00:15:41]>> Cuz there's the beginnings of a slightly banned symbol appearing in your painting there.

[00:15:47]>> I was just trying to freestyle. You know >> what am I learning here? What are you learning about me?

[00:15:54]>> Well, I've learned that your yellow and your blue are the same size. So that means you prefer yellow as a happy color. And then you have blue, but you want a hint of green. And the idea, >> Do you know what, Christina? I've got no idea what you're on. That looks like Lego to me.

[00:16:10]>> Okay.

[00:16:10]>> It's bright. It's vibrant. It's It's childlike.

[00:16:15]>> Yeah.

[00:16:15]>> It's It's sort of juvenile. It's It's >> Okay. Fantastic.

[00:16:19]>> It's uncomplicated.

[00:16:20]>> Okay. And this looks too complicated.

[00:16:22]>> That looks slightly oppressive.

[00:16:24]>> Okay.

[00:16:26]>> This is a fascinating and [music] new experience for me. I've never employed an interior designer before. Having reached the profound conclusion that the color scheme of my Lego house should be legoy, Christina promises me a great day out. Although it turns out this is a ruse to get me into a secondhand furniture shop.

[00:16:45]>> No, no, we're here to look at furniture, not toys.

[00:16:48]>> That's Hornby o gauge.

[00:16:50]>> I know, but we're here to look at furniture.

[00:16:53]All we're here for is to see whether you can sit in the stuff and what your reaction is onto the shapes. That's it.

[00:17:00]>> Okay.

[00:17:01]>> I'm not asking you to buy anything from here. I'm not asking you.

[00:17:04]>> There's actually no point sitting on there cuz we could >> No, no, you'll break it.

[00:17:08]>> But it's a chair.

[00:17:08]>> No, you'll break it. It's mother of pearl >> rocking chair.

[00:17:15]>> Difficult to do in Lego.

[00:17:18]The rock will be more sort of and then it'll come apart.

[00:17:23]>> The comfort factor from this is because of the rake is the angle and the upholstery on the back.

[00:17:31]>> Well, this is why we shouldn't try to imitate existing designs in Lego. We should think of a new >> correct >> Lego design language. I've said design language there. God, >> that's a plane, not a chair.

[00:17:45]>> But it has a chair in it. It's real.

[00:17:48]>> Is it really? It's not an air fix thing.

[00:17:52]Can I be really honest with you? I've been in places like this before, and my honest reaction is when I come in a shop like this full of sort of slightly old, supposedly interesting stuff, is that it should all go on what I call the antiques bonfire.

[00:18:07]Interior design clearly isn't my thing.

[00:18:10]So, we reach a compromise. Christina will do it.

[00:18:17]We still need to see if Eva's new and improved beam recipe is good enough to take my weight when I go up the Lego stairs to floor one.

[00:18:25]>> Right. So, these are the beam designs we're hoping to use.

[00:18:28]>> Mhm.

[00:18:29]>> And these are low walls, but they're made out of our bricks.

[00:18:32]>> Yeah.

[00:18:33]>> Right. So, it's got to be able to take my weight plus a bit. So, call it what?

[00:18:36]90 kg.

[00:18:38]Yeah.

[00:18:39]>> Just do me a favor. Just tell me.

[00:18:42]Ain't going nowhere. Feet off.

[00:18:45]Fate off. Done.

[00:18:47][laughter] >> It's the best.

[00:18:49]>> Oh, there you go. That's it. Done.

[00:18:51]>> God, when it goes, it goes, doesn't it?

[00:18:53]>> It does.

[00:18:55]>> This is more of a disaster than it might seem. Because my Lego house is full size and in a public place, it counts as a proper building. [music] And that means it must satisfy building regulations.

[00:19:07]Barnaby and Eva have to sign the design off, which means they're responsible if it falls on someone's head.

[00:19:15]In short, this has turned into an issue of insurance and public liability.

[00:19:21]>> It's certainly possible to prove that this building can stay up. The issue is, yeah, it's definitely possible to prove it. Problem is, can you prove it in a very short space of time in a way that is going to be satisfactory to the insurers?

[00:19:33]>> So, we haven't tested every eventuality on that. So we can say in all confidence, >> but you haven't tested it for meteorite strikes >> in order to be able to to sort of sign off a blanket guarantee that the structure will never have any problems.

[00:19:45]Seems to just about impossible.

[00:19:46]>> The first time somebody made a house out of concrete.

[00:19:52]Nobody knew what concrete did until they tested it. I mean to be fair on that though, I mean failures.

[00:19:59]>> Yeah, [laughter] there were a lot of failures and people failures for human.

[00:20:02]Well, so be it. humankind has to progress.

[00:20:06]>> What do we do? We either don't build anything or the alternative is a system where we've got a we've got a parallel structure going on where we have a Lego construction in Lego masonry but where we provide permanent support for the floors in timber.

[00:20:22]>> I don't like it, but I don't have much choice. We can build the house out of [music] Lego, but we will have to build it around a passive wooden safety structure to convince the men with laptops that it can't actually fall down. But behind closed [music] doors, we're also going to carry on with our pioneering Lego beam experimental [music] work just to prove that Lego and Lego alone is the future of building and that wood is just so last century.

[00:20:52]The next day, [music] I go back to Dorking, determined to do just one thing. Start building in Lego. First, we need to put up a huge plinth, perfectly flat and level. Otherwise, all we will do is produce a latter-day [music] biblical parable about the Lego house built on sand.

[00:21:10]Right. This first course of bricks are special ones with cutouts designed to sit over these wooden bats to keep the whole thing square and stop the house sliding around on top of its plinth.

[00:21:20]Here, that's the special corner piece.

[00:21:23]These are laid down in a line. Nothing's actually joined yet.

[00:21:29]>> [snorts] >> bake bricks made out of small bricks until we get to the special end brick.

[00:21:40]>> That's right. That's going to be the doorway.

[00:21:44]Right. Same sort of thing going this way.

[00:21:48]Special first course cutout bricks placed in position.

[00:21:55]But now for the big one, the commemorative cornerstone. Thank you, Vic. This is the first time in this project that Lego brick will join Lego brick and become structural. Here we go.

[00:22:13]Building has commenced.

[00:22:15]Thank you.

[00:22:18][applause] Right, I'm down. 4,926 [music] to go.

[00:22:23]>> All right. Don't be pessimistic.

[00:22:28]>> Wooden uprights are then slotted into the plinth. These will keep the exterior walls in place, but won't support them.

[00:22:36]>> I'm pretty excited because this has been about a month of twoing and throwing and counting bricks and getting worried about the safety aspects and insurance and all the boring things that you have to do as an architect. And finally, we can see it taking shape on the ground.

[00:22:54]>> [music] >> Meanwhile, Christina and her team of expert brickheads are wrestling with the science of Lego cabinet making with depressing results.

[00:23:06]>> It's getting terrible. It looks beautiful, but it's a structural nightmare. And the furniture is collapsing and I always like everything perfect and it isn't perfect.

[00:23:19]You see, I've just built this and it was strong and now it's not. So, at the moment, I'm in a situation where I'm destroying a chair that looks beautiful because it's not structurally sound.

[00:23:35]Last night, after laying my cornerstone, I decided to leave my unpaid Lego workforce hard at work and go home and relax in the jacuzzi. And this morning, look what they've done. It's terrific.

[00:23:52]This truly is how all houses should be built. Our big brick scheme means the walls are quite literally leaping up at an astonishing rate >> because you don't have to mix mortar.

[00:24:06]You don't have to line things up with a spirit level and a piece of string. This is actually much quicker than real building. So in the future, we may be able to have cheaper, more sociable housing.

[00:24:18]at a lower cost and in much brighter colors.

[00:24:27]>> When archaeologists unearth this house, they will find evidence of the British public being funny. Here it is.

[00:24:34]Introducing a pink brick to an otherwise red one. Now, I didn't notice that cuz we were building the wall from the other side. And it wasn't until we got up to there that we spotted it, which means it's embedded forever. And if it was you who did this, I hate you.

[00:24:52]Then I am summoned to the winery workshop by Christina who says she has some Lego furniture for me to try out.

[00:25:03]>> Just sit.

[00:25:04]>> This is not important.

[00:25:06]>> Well, I don't know.

[00:25:07]>> Well, now it's like that. No, >> just sit.

[00:25:13]>> I DARE YOU.

[00:25:18]OKAY. IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL, but structurally it's not sound.

[00:25:21]>> Your design is absolutely spoton. I love it. But your engineering is bad.

[00:25:27]>> I think that's a good word to describe it. Um, I'll get back to you on that.

[00:25:32]>> More volunteers have been queuing [music] up to help with the Lego house than with any other project in this series. There really is something about Lego that appeals universally to the human spirit.

[00:25:45]How could a simple plastic brick become [music] such a force for good in the world? To find out, I took myself to Lego Mecca, Billand in Denmark. It is a measure really of the esteem in which Lego is held by children because if it was anything else, kids would come here with their pockets full of stones and just try and knock the people over or sink the sailing boat or put the windows through on the hawk house or whatever it is.

[00:26:10]>> But they don't.

[00:26:17]up to you, please.

[00:26:18]>> But there is a dark side to the phenomenal success of this toy and approaching Lego. These molding machines have been spewing out Lego non-stop for 50 years. And it's no longer certain that anyone knows how to stop them.

[00:26:34]It's absolutely terrifying. Where does it all go? What happens to old Lego? It doesn't biodegrade. It's like polyine bags. It'll stick around for thousands of years. It'll survive the nuclear winter. Where is it? They can't all have gone up the vacuum cleaner.

[00:26:53]And what if these robots are taking the Lego and making more Lego robots? What if they take over the world? There's only a tiny number of people working in this factory. They cannot possibly fight this off. There is more Lego in the world than people. We can't win.

[00:27:13]>> [music] >> At least I know where 3 million of them are. Back in Dorking, where Vic has discovered the hard way that Lego is designed to come apart.

[00:27:23]>> This has been twisted down at the base and that's projected all the way up and has caused this fracture here. Now, the further you go up the building, there's a chance that it might start magnifying, but I'll have to address that when it comes to it. The long and short of it is that the doorway is now not level. In normal building, we could patch this up with plaster, but Lego is a precise engineering material made to a tolerance of 200s of a millimeter. Vic attacks my house with a piece of 42.

[00:27:57]Now, if you put this up on there, just hold that on there.

[00:28:01]>> Would you be happy with that as a level?

[00:28:02]Yeah, the lentil was pretty straight, but it's still Oh, it's got a little bit. It's a lot better than it was.

[00:28:06]>> Builders call this making good or bodging.

[00:28:09]>> We're going to have to try different solutions to different problems as they occur. There's no right or wrong way to do this. Okay.

[00:28:20]>> Cheers, boys.

[00:28:21]>> Still, Vic has been responsible for some very large buildings in his time, and none of them has fallen down yet.

[00:28:35]And while we're on the subject of falling down, I may as well go and try some more of Christina's furniture.

[00:28:41]>> So, this is a kitchen chair for my twoerson kitchen table.

[00:28:44]>> Correct.

[00:28:49]>> Yes.

[00:28:50]>> No, it doesn't work.

[00:28:52]>> Why not? No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:28:55]>> Look, you haven't got any overlap at all there.

[00:28:58]>> That's useless. Look. Sorry, but >> you're not sorry.

[00:29:02]>> And you've got that face there, which is not actually attached at all, is it?

[00:29:05]You've got two >> Okay.

[00:29:07]>> smooth bits.

[00:29:08]>> All right.

[00:29:10]Um, can we >> The design is superb, though.

[00:29:13]>> Okay. So, it looks right, but it doesn't work.

[00:29:16]>> Okay. Can we >> It's a great chair. It only fails in the vital respect of it being a chair.

[00:29:23]>> Oops. Uh, point taken.

[00:29:26]>> Point taken.

[00:29:30]That bit's good.

[00:29:31]>> Okay, enough. Otherwise, you'll destroy it and then I have to rebuild everything again.

[00:29:39]>> Incredibly, and despite ridding the world of 3 million of them, we're starting to run out of bricks.

[00:29:47]We've got a bit of a brick shortage. The concern is that we might not have enough for the walls, let alone the roof. So, we'll have to do a redesign on the first floor. We're trying to establish how many bricks we have. I will be freaking out if I have to dismantle a piece of furniture which is made and ready to go in. Um, and I'm going to do my best to be mellow and calm and not a primadona about it.

[00:30:18]>> But, you know what? I like it. I like it a lot. But there's just I don't know.

[00:30:22]There's a slight sort of unfinished feeling about it. Bit >> more open plan than you were expecting at this point.

[00:30:28]>> Yeah, >> slightly.

[00:30:29]>> So, what's happened?

[00:30:30]>> Run out of bricks.

[00:30:32]>> What are all these then?

[00:30:33]>> We're still a lot of bricks. Like, >> how many?

[00:30:36]>> I've been told approximately 240,000.

[00:30:39]>> 240,000 bricks.

[00:30:43]>> Your calculations?

[00:30:44]>> Well, I think we can do a couple of design tweaks that actually get us the house maybe slightly improved in a way.

[00:30:50]Let's get you a ver.

[00:30:53]>> Ver.

[00:30:54]>> Yeah. Well, look, look out behind you.

[00:30:55]You've got a fantastic view. Let's use it.

[00:30:57]>> So, what you're saying is there's a big gap in the house. I >> saw I mean on the upper floor there's an area you could quite cheerfully make in rooftop.

[00:31:04]Brilliant >> for with your cross on first thing in the morning. Cap latte chino >> Victor >> Terrace R. You do me the enormity of shutting the beep up.

[00:31:14]>> Was it necessity as the mother of invention? You get great things out of >> the Boeing 747 actually looks better with only one wing and that way we save some aluminium as well. [laughter] It's absolutely >> but the Valcon Bing.

[00:31:30]>> I don't know if you followed all that, but the upshot of it is if we don't find another 250,000 bricks, then Barnaby will modify my house to have a verander, which means I will get out of bed in the morning, blurry eyed, walk through the door, and fall straight off the edge of the house into the vineyard. And then I will be recorded as having died by falling from a ver. A verander with a handrail might be a good idea.

[00:31:54]>> As the client in this relationship, I'm not prepared to compromise the design of my second home. So, I send my butler off to find another quarter of a million bricks.

[00:32:05]Meanwhile, back in the workshop, Christina has discovered LEGO's remarkable propensity for not being waterproof. Here's the sink.

[00:32:14]>> Yeah, it's not going anywhere.

[00:32:16]>> Oh, it is.

[00:32:19]Okay.

[00:32:23]>> And the Lego Lavy raises a thorny old social issue.

[00:32:27]>> Does he have a seat?

[00:32:29]>> Not currently. He will have a seat.

[00:32:30]Yeah.

[00:32:31]>> How are you hinging it?

[00:32:33]>> Um, I have some hinges in the car.

[00:32:35]>> You You don't need to hinge it. Just put it permanently up.

[00:32:39][laughter] Starved of [music] bricks, Vic has taken the initiative and made some expeditious changes to Christina's carefully designed color scheme. This was a mistake.

[00:32:54]>> Sick.

[00:32:56]>> What is that? It's an absolute catastrophe.

[00:33:01]>> I better know what you're going on about.

[00:33:04]>> The nice brown section.

[00:33:05]>> It looks like poo.

[00:33:07]>> It looks like Winnie the Pooh's poo.

[00:33:09]>> I thought you'd like it. I know what you're going to say. No.

[00:33:12]>> Well, if you knew what I was going to say.

[00:33:14]>> I know what you're going to say. I can read your mind.

[00:33:16]>> Why did you do it?

[00:33:18]>> Why did you let them do it? You're in charge.

[00:33:20]>> No. Barnaby is the architect. He wanted it because he said, "We do not have enough blue bricks."

[00:33:26]>> Vic is a hard man. That much is obvious.

[00:33:29]But Christina's trousers are bigger.

[00:33:32]>> Okay, team. Can everybody stop, please?

[00:33:37]the band of red, blue, yellow, black, blue are lovely. And then we get to this brown, this Winnie the Pooh poo color. Then they put the Italian flag up. There's no consistency with the design intent of a slick, streamlined house.

[00:34:03]Now, Barnaby's not here, so I'm going to put my neck on the line and I'm going to make an executive decision. We are going to rip out the from the brown up and then in its place, we are going to have this pattern all the way up to the top.

[00:34:25]>> All right, young people, rip them down and they can redo them down there.

[00:34:28]Otherwise, we'll be a month for Sundays.

[00:34:30]That has just put the build back by two days at a time when we can't afford it.

[00:34:36]Trouble is, Christina's right.

[00:34:39]>> TIME.

[00:34:47]>> I'll get more boxes.

[00:34:52]But there's great news from the LEGO Open University. Eva has arrived at Beam Design version 1.3. And it's now time to prove that a house really could be built with nothing more than bricks designed to come apart.

[00:35:06]I'm about to become the first man in history to walk on the upper floor of a structure with no glue, no wood, just [music] Lego. Right, Vick, you're on the other end of the piece of string. I'm wearing this special harness designed to make my trousers look too short.

[00:35:27]I'll turn to lock you up.

[00:35:32]Right. This is pioneering work going up.

[00:35:38]>> I've got you.

[00:35:39]>> And right that is, unless I'm mistaken, a 13 stone man standing on Lego only.

[00:35:51]Convinced by that, Vic, >> I knew it'd work in the first place.

[00:35:55]>> Eva.

[00:35:55]>> Yep.

[00:35:56]>> Walk up and down a bit.

[00:35:58]>> That's a few [music] small and nervous steps for me, but a giant leap towards the reconfigurable plastic house of the future.

[00:36:07]>> Right. I'm confident that it works.

[00:36:10]>> Right. I'm coming down.

[00:36:16]Okay.

[00:36:17]>> Am I on it?

[00:36:18]>> You're on it, mate.

[00:36:21]Thank you.

[00:36:22]>> Got the slack.

[00:36:23]>> Well, there you go. That means future generations can build whole cities out of Lego, >> securing the knowledge that it works.

[00:36:29]>> I say job well done.

[00:36:31]>> Congratulations.

[00:36:32]>> Y >> excellent. Can I take this off? It's really crushing my gentleman's area.

[00:36:40]>> I think it looks quite nice on you.

[00:36:46]The next day, a man arrives from Denmark with a van stuffed with half a million extra bricks or about 10 minutes production.

[00:36:54]>> Oh my gosh, >> this is like being in a sweetie shop.

[00:36:59]>> Yeah.

[00:37:01]>> Liberation.

[00:37:06]That's fantastic.

[00:37:07]>> Awesome.

[00:37:10]I'll drag it down the back.

[00:37:12]>> I'm really pleased. I'm sort of I'm not Lego D anymore.

[00:37:20]>> It's not a good delivery of gold.

[00:37:21]>> I know. Perfect. And some yellow we need.

[00:37:25]>> Right. They can start building bricks now.

[00:37:27]>> Going straight into the storage.

[00:37:29]>> No, but we need to build.

[00:37:30]>> We'll have to do a lot of building today.

[00:37:35]>> Summer is fleeting. It's time for the Victorian workhouse to make the final push. So now basically it's just people phoning everybody and saying get down here. We need you to build bricks 5 minutes ago.

[00:37:52][music] It's been described as the most stressful day in a person's life, moving into a new house. But actually, I have to say, I'm [music] very much looking forward to it. And what I'm actually doing here is answering a question I asked myself as a six-year-old boy, and which I'm sure millions and millions of other people have asked as well. If you had enough Lego [music] bricks, could you build a real house? Yes, you could.

[00:38:39]Here it is.

[00:38:50][music] Some traditions of homeowning remain strong. The key is underneath the plant pot, apparently.

[00:39:06]There it is. Here we go.

[00:39:12]It fits.

[00:39:18]Oh, yes. Wow.

[00:39:27]Look at it.

[00:39:36]There's my love coffee table and my piano. It's a baby grand. [music] Come upstairs.

[00:39:45]I'm now going upstairs in a Lego house.

[00:39:48]This is just fantastic. I thought we might manage a bungalow or a beach hut or something, but look at this. The first floor. Look at the stripes. It's just I mean, all houses should look like this. It's so cheerful. Look at my carpet. It's beautiful.

[00:40:07]I've never seen anything like this. I think it's just stupendous.

[00:40:13]See, what Barnaby has done, all credit to him, is made a house out of Lego. We haven't imitated brickuilt Victorian structures or concrete structures from after the war. We've made a house that plays to the strengths of the material.

[00:40:27]I've lived in nine houses [music] in my life. This is my tent and it's by far the best.

[00:40:33]>> The scale of the thing is fantastic, isn't it?

[00:40:35]>> It's absolutely super.

[00:40:36]>> It's our little Lego block.

[00:40:37]>> Yeah.

[00:40:38]>> And it's ginormous. There are a few areas where it's showing signs of moving around a bit, but I think we've learned enough from this one to know how we do a different one actually. And I can't think of any other building material that you can take it apart, put it back together again differently, and they can still use the same pieces.

[00:40:51]>> Yeah.

[00:40:51]>> Otherwise, you know, it'll be a skip somewhere.

[00:40:54]>> This is the dawn of the reconfigurable house. I mean, I can see, for example, there's a bit I'm just going to squeeze that back together.

[00:41:00]>> Oh, and that is immensely satisfying.

[00:41:02]>> Yeah. Fixed.

[00:41:03]>> You can You never tie that sensation.

[00:41:05]Yeah. Exactly. You'd have to get a builder in and then he wouldn't turn up.

[00:41:12]>> For the next 24 hours, this will be my home. And it's all Lego. All of it.

[00:41:18]Complete with Lego's undeniable [music] shortcomings.

[00:41:22]>> Here are my dumbbells.

[00:41:24]There's my whisker.

[00:41:27]Now, it's a well established fact treading on a Lego brick is the most painful thing a human being can do. But let's see what happens if you tread in some slippers made out of Lego. Here we go.

[00:41:41]Oh, I've always wanted one of these.

[00:41:50]Tell you what, cat.

[00:41:54]They are. No one would know.

[00:42:00]>> My first house guest is Christina. Her interior designs and furnishings are things of unbelievable Legoish [music] beauty. And I want her to know. I think that. So, we spend an intimate moment together on the dean.

[00:42:14]>> I'm going to Oh, okay. Just gently.

[00:42:19]>> I've got quite bony buttocks.

[00:42:20]>> Um, how do you feel about it? I love it.

[00:42:22]I think it's it's better than I expected. I always thought a Lego house is going to look quite remarkable because it'll be brightly colored, but it's just it's actually not like you've made a big house out of Lego. It's like you've been shrunk into a Lego scale world.

[00:42:36]>> I mean, for me, it's it's it's exactly how I thought it was going to be. And um [snorts] sorry, everyone put a lot of hard work into it.

[00:42:48]>> I know.

[00:42:50]>> I don't think I don't appreciate it. I do. I think it's brilliant.

[00:42:54]>> Uh, and it's been a real amazing trip.

[00:42:58]>> Sorry, I'm a wuss. I know. I'm a girl.

[00:43:00][snorts] >> What do you do when girls start crying?

[00:43:04]Pull yourself to get the woman. You did make one mistake.

[00:43:07]>> Okay.

[00:43:07]>> In [clears throat] this house.

[00:43:08]>> So, I'll tell you what it is.

[00:43:10]>> Yep.

[00:43:10]>> You didn't measure the size of my head before you made these glasses.

[00:43:16]Um, [laughter] >> pull yourself together.

[00:43:25][music] >> Now, this isn't actually a property program, but I did watch one once and I know roughly how they work. So, what I've done is invited a couple of estate agents along to value my house. Not just give it a value, but also comment on the style, the taste of the fittings, and the decal. Decide what sort of person it would appeal to.

[00:43:42]>> This is very tight. Um, no cupboards to speak of, no sink. Definitely a bachelor pad who likes takeaways. I would say >> this is very [music] uh overthought in terms of design. Um, it's very compact for family living space.

[00:43:58]>> We're in a very traditional area here.

[00:44:02]Not sure I'm feeling the love.

[00:44:05]I would value this house at £5,000.

[00:44:08]>> I would value this property at £20,000.

[00:44:12]>> £20,000. But it is Lego and it wouldn't last for a very long time.

[00:44:17]>> It doesn't rot >> and you can put it back together if it falls down. It's Lego.

[00:44:22]>> Remember of course that we are in Surrey. It's not a radical area of the country. And for that reason I've also invited an art expert because this is of course not merely a house. It is an obje egg amongst buildings. So I'd like to see what he thinks it's worth.

[00:44:40]Personally, I think it's worth millions.

[00:44:43]>> Would Paul Nelson of Sur's University for the Creative Arts see the aesthetic merit in my plastic clip together dwelling?

[00:44:51]>> I want to touch it. I want to feel it.

[00:44:53]You're never supposed to touch artworks, but I feel compelled.

[00:44:57][panting] There's a very postmodern feel to this.

[00:45:00]I'm not always aware that I'm looking at Lego until I get close to it. It's just an orgy of Lego, isn't it? Really?

[00:45:09]I value this artwork at half a million.

[00:45:13]£500,000. You reckon?

[00:45:15]>> People would love to go into it to look at it. It's an interactive piece. The turbine hall of the tape modern would be a great venue.

[00:45:21]>> Maybe getting into one or two uh private collections such as the Sachi collection.

[00:45:27]>> If you do, could be a very bright future ahead for you.

[00:45:32]That gentleman clearly saw it for what it is. an object dah which belongs in an art gallery of some sort. Still not quite as much as I'd like, but at half a million pounds, I'd have his hand off.

[00:45:44]While I wait for the offers from galleries and museums to come [music] flooding in, I decide it's time for a select house party. And the first guest to arrive is Britain's bestloved caricatururist, Gerald Scarf, who's tried to capture my likeness in Lego.

[00:45:58]>> But do I have to brace myself?

[00:45:59]>> Come around. Yes. No, no, no, no. I've been very kind to you. I've been very very kind to you.

[00:46:07]>> You haven't?

[00:46:08]>> Nothing like [laughter] me.

[00:46:15]>> It's been weird because I can't do any kind of curves with it, you know, and you're a very flowing sort of man, if I may say.

[00:46:21]>> No, it does look like me.

[00:46:23]>> I was going to suggest putting it in the attic, but this house hasn't actually got one, unfortunately.

[00:46:26]>> How dare you, sir? Attic.

[00:46:30]Does it induce a feeling of love in your female visitors, do you think?

[00:46:34]>> Well, I haven't had one yet, but I'm hoping so.

[00:46:36]>> Then you can take them up to the leg over bedroom.

[00:46:38]>> Is it? You just beat me to the joke. I was just going to say when I get the e, the g, and the army. Yeah.

[00:46:44]>> But what Gerald doesn't realize is that my first female caller will actually be his wife, Jane Asher.

[00:46:52]>> Hello, >> James.

[00:46:53]>> Miss Asher.

[00:46:55]>> This is just stunningly beautiful.

[00:46:58]>> Do you like it? It's like a work of art.

[00:46:59]It's absolutely >> nicely. I knew you'd get it. If you'd like to go right into the living area, >> look, before we go any further, James, like a well brought up gal, house guest, I have brought you a little housewarming present.

[00:47:13]>> Thank you.

[00:47:13]>> They are hardcentered, I think. So, are they? Yes. Perhaps tough on the teeth, so be a bit careful.

[00:47:21]>> Famous for acting and cake making. Could Jane take the heat in a Lego kitchen?

[00:47:26]>> Should we try making a sandwich? I'm very keen to know if Lego [music] equipment stuff. Yes, of course.

[00:47:34]>> Look, spread like a dream.

[00:47:37]>> Oh, that works very well.

[00:47:39]>> Here we go.

[00:47:40]>> Oh, look. It's making a really cute pattern on the cheese. See?

[00:47:44]>> So, it is. It >> is a bit thick.

[00:47:46]>> That That's not a cheese [music] shaving, is it? Anyway, the knife works. That's something.

[00:47:52]>> It's good.

[00:47:53]>> I was determined to have a jelly with the impression of Lego on it.

[00:47:57]Yes.

[00:47:58]>> Oh, well, it's it's [music] coming out.

[00:48:00]>> It's not quite the effect I was expecting. [laughter] >> I was expecting like a castle with little lots of little pips where >> scrutable, isn't it?

[00:48:11]>> My next guest isn't really a guest at all because I didn't invite him. He's just some winer who I spot wandering around the vineyard.

[00:48:21]Spicy, grapey, floral scent.

[00:48:26]Oz. Oh, look. Shardonnay.

[00:48:30]>> Oz has brought a bottle, but only because he always carries one. I decant it to the Lego Magnum.

[00:48:36]>> God, it's leaking like a >> Oh, for James. James, this is good.

[00:48:41]>> Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.

[00:48:45]>> It's very nice.

[00:48:46]>> These don't leak. I've waterproof them.

[00:48:48]>> What are those?

[00:48:50]Look like birds.

[00:48:51]>> They're goblets. Cheers.

[00:48:53]>> Cheers. Clunk. Clunk.

[00:48:56]Well, good evening everyone and uh welcome to my new house.

[00:49:00]>> You're supposed to cheer. Welcome to my new house.

[00:49:05]>> How tremendous.

[00:49:06]>> Well, it's definitely wiped clean, isn't it?

[00:49:08]>> I quite like the very English way that the floor is clashing with a wall. And if you get bored of a wall or something, just move it.

[00:49:16]>> Yeah.

[00:49:22]Thick.

[00:49:30]And the fluorescents go down and that's your moody >> moody >> moody sexy lighting.

[00:49:36]>> Right. Can we have it back on scene one whilst somebody tiff then?

[00:49:39]>> I had no idea that anybody could give such an accurate impersonation of you.

[00:49:45]Even to the extent that the whole of the right hand side of your face is indeed orange.

[00:49:50]>> Slightly on the hard side. It's firstly >> it's a firm bed. Yeah.

[00:49:55]>> Yeah.

[00:49:57]>> Which is my side.

[00:49:59]>> You're not here. I'm dreams. Sweet is arriving later.

[00:50:02]>> Sweet has arrived already.

[00:50:07]>> The party has been a great success. And now I've got rid of Oz. I revel in the magic of my new home. Put on my dressing gown, climb the Lego hill to Bedfordshire, and prepare for a night in the Lego land of Nod.

[00:50:24]The sink may not be perfectly watertight, but never mind.

[00:50:44]This is one of the fundamental problems with Lego is it's not it's not actually waterproof.

[00:50:53]I'm off to bed.

[00:50:55]This Lego floor is very painful.

[00:51:01]Well, viewers, it's been absolutely terrific. I hope you've enjoyed seeing my Lego house as much as I've enjoyed being in it. But so far, to be honest, all I've done is mince around, have a glass of wine, speak to some people, and all the rest of it. Now, it's the acid test. I am about to become the first person in history to sleep for the night in his own full-size Lego house. So, here goes.

[00:51:27]Good night, everyone.

[00:51:30]God, you thought French hotel pillows were bad? This is terrible.

[00:51:41][music] >> [music]