This week marked the groundbreaking of the LEGO House in Billund, Denmark, a massive structure that aims to be a sort of futuristic Mecca for Lego lovers, design nuts, and artists alike. The 8,500 square foot building isn’t just a building made of LEGOs or a building made to look like it’s made of LEGOs. According to LEGO Group themselves, the LEGO House should be “one place where you can experience the LEGO story and be inspired by the endless possibilities of the LEGO brick.”

The building itself is designed by Bjarke Ingels of BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group. Ingels recently designed the BIG Maze at the National Building Museum in Washington DC. Inspired by the shapes and colors of the iconic LEGO brick, Ingels’s LEGO House will mimic 21 massive LEGOs stacked in order to create an indoor space and will stand about 80 feet tall.

“For me the LEGO brick embodies the notion of systematic creativity- that the rigor and rationality of the LEGO brick allows children of all ages infinite possibilities to create their own worlds and to inhabit them through play,” said Ingels, who envisions the roof to be a “covered square as well as a mountain of interconnected terraces and playgrounds.”

Currently, the actual facilities that are going to be housed within are a bit of a secret. However, an artist rendering of the space shows a cafe, history museum, art exhibition spaces, as well as a partially covered courtyard. The LEGO House will open in 2016.

LEGO will be selling a special LEGO model of the LEGO house in and around Billund during the construction period. Of course, eagle-eyed brickheads should be able to reverse engineer the building itself from the concept video and photos.

Header image via Slate.com

h/t Slate.com