Police Station- Law & Order

A Lego Modular Police Station

It seems that the 'street' of Modulars is missing a little Law & Order and although there are plenty of places to eat, sleep and drink, with entertainment and shopping catered for, there is nowhere for the minifigures to go if they have lost a pet or to keep the troublesome element in check !

So with that, we think a Police Station is overdue and we hope our submission would fit right in.

The Building

When we set out to do this we had a certain criteria we wanted to achieve:

1. Create a modular that would fit into the street and not look out of place 

2. Be a certain height but no higher than Town Hall, a no-no in our book

3. Be architecturally interesting

4. Be fully furnished.

5. Learn different building techniques and LDD. Never used the software before !

The building is made up of three distinct floors, a ground floor which is the main entrance to the police station with reception for the public, seating and water cooler. The reception is manned by a police constable with entry for officers as long as they know the code to the keypad ! At the back is where the naughty mini-figures are brought in, all monitored by CCTV and this is the processing room. Here the officer on duty will photograph them before assigning them a nice and cosy cell. The model allows you to remove the grilles at the top of the cells for access but stops them escaping ! Also housed on this floor is the interrogation room where the criminal is interviewed with his/her solicitor present. He's the snappily dressed one.

The First floor is accessed by the lift only. We decided to use a lift instead of stairs as it allowed us to bring in more detail and rooms to each floor whilst allowing access to each level. This is inspired by the one and only lift we know of in the Town Hall. On exiting the lift, the officers will move to the main briefing room where the officer in charge will run them through the latest incidents in mini-figure land . They can then relax later on by having a well earned game of snooker/pool or indulge in a drink or bite to eat in the kitchen. We attempted to bring some humour into this austere building so hence the donuts ! 

Moving up a level we enter a fancy tiled corridor and have a choice, visit the file room where poor old officer is surrounded by filing cabinets and nothing else though he does have a nice view. Across from the file room we have the shooting range where officers can sharpen up their skills on a variety of weapons. This room is secure with live firing on/off lights and keypad entry. Keeping an eye on them is the boss and Chief Superintendent has, of course, his own office. Well furnished , the chief keeps an eye on the whole station though his seniority means he can bring his dog to work.

Finally we get to the roof, accessed by the ladder in the corridor and here is room for communications and helipad for the police helicopter. 

Inspiration

We have been inspired to build this Police station by looking at some existing ones in London and we took some ideas for the front from Chandos Place police station with brickwork and lights from surrounding buildings. 

https://flic.kr/p/SedEAu

https://flic.kr/p/SedCVq

The Build

I had to learn LDD as I have never used it before .Did level by level , got our build list, ordered all the bricks that we didn't have and then started to construct. It has been immensely fun as along the way, we have discovered that certain bricks don't work together or look great onscreen but not so great in real life and that was even before we got to the interior which proved another challenge as sometimes furniture didn't fit so it was back to the drawing board.

Hopefully it has turned out ok, we both hope that people like the design and although our first, we think we have created something a little unique.

About us

We are a husband and wife Lego-crazy team and complete novices so this was an opportunity to not only design  and build our first set but also learn Lego Software at the same time. It has been immensely enjoyable and we have discovered so much, how different bricks work together, new techniques and even agreed on many things which is an achievement in its self ! My wife (Pacman563) is better at interiors so I let her loose on that and I get to play with the outside.

In collaboration with Pacman563 ( my wife) who has given me explicit permission to submit this work as a joint effort .

We welcome any suggestions, advice or criticism as it is all part of the learning process but we do hope you like what we have created and please show your support with a vote !

Brick on...

SwissTony & Pacman563