Modular Library and Park

Thank you so much for helping this project hit 5k supporters! As my favorite MOC I've done so far, it makes me so excited to see so many people that are equally as excited for this to become a reality. As a special treat, I wanted to take this moment to give you a little behind-the-scenes look at how I went about designing and building this model.

I started with an idea for another modular building. By this time I had already made a post office, a city memorial corner, and a suits and boutique clothing store. I knew I wanted to make something that would definitely fit the city block theme, but make it's way closer to a neighborhood. I had tossed around the idea for a coffee shop and various other smaller neighborhood appropriate buildings before I came to a library.

I thought to myself "a library would be perfect". A place for anyone to go to and escape their world by being surrounded by books full of adventure. I had also recently watched a video about the Karabuk University Library in Karabuk, Turkey. I instantly fell in love with the design and had to use that as inspiration for my Lego library. Once I had my library idea in place, I knew I had to implement the following must-have features for this model:

First, I got to working on creating a small proof-of-concept of the book spine façade. I knew this would be the most challenging part of the design as I also needed it to work with the modular system. It had to have minimal to no seams between floors and I wanted three books. So I automatically knew I would need a 32x32 baseplate, this was going to be a large building.

I created small sub-models of book spines that were tall enough for 1 floor. I had to anchor them to the wall in a way where they would not rotate but also neatly separate with the floors. I used technic pins to anchor them to the wall sections.

Next, I wanted to have 3 books so I worked to get the spacing in between each book just right. I found that giving them a 1-stud space allowed me to have 3 books and enough room for the main entrance door comfortably.

Finally, the building had to adhere to the modular system which means the floors had to be separable. I had to make some modifications to the book spines to allow them to sit seamlessly on top of each other. I simply copied the wall and book spine sub-models to the second floor and adjusted their sitting elevation by one plate.

After I was satisfied with how the book spines looked and how the floors fit perfectly together, I filled in the rest of the building with all the other features I wanted. The park/garden area is inspired by the Tranquil Garden set, specifically the customizable/removable trees and flora. I wanted to allow the builder (you) options to customize the park to their liking with a tree, a bench, and a bird fountain. The book drop off is also removable as you can place it on either side of the park to let you have the park on either side of the library.

The idea for the large windows came later as I continued to make small improvements to the model.

I am very proud of this model and I hope you will be able to enjoy it someday soon too. Please continue to help support me by telling your friends about this project :)

Thank you!

Thank you everyone, we've made it over the 2000+ supporter mark! I've made some small updates to the model and added new windows to the side on the second floor. I wanted to give it large windows to give it a more "open" feeling. Lets in more light and gives the visitors a clear view of the park below. They can watch the birds and squirrels on the tree.

Thank you for all your kind comments and I'm looking forward to taking this project all the way to 10k :)

This project has hit 100+ supporters and it's all thanks to you! Thank you so much for helping my fourth project get even closer to becoming a dream come true. I want to take this opportunity and show you my vision for this MOC. As stated in the description, the main visual feature of this build is the three books that make up the front facade of the building. I've added custom decals to my render to give the books more authentic looking spines, like from vintage hard back, leather bound books.

I also wanted to show case my second favorite feature of this build, the park! Here it is with a different configuration of the bench, tree, and bird bath.

The bench and tree are on friction pegs so they can swivel but still hold their position. You can make some interesting park layouts with them.