Hand-me-down gift led to teenager’s Lego House gallery slot

It started with a stash of Lego bricks handed down by the next door neighbours without any building instructions.

Now 19-year-old Kit Nugent has his creations displayed in the heart of the Lego world – Lego House in Denmark.

The Edinburgh teenager is one of a handful of designers to be selected to showcase their brick art in this year’s Masterpiece Gallery in Billund.

Three of his literary-themed creations will be displayed for a year alongside models by other adult designers from all around the world.

Although the brick-based toy was originally designed for children, it has a huge global fanbase of adults.

Kit, who now describes himself as an Afol (adult fan of Lego), is the youngest of the 17 designers featured in this year’s exhibition.

“I’m not sure how they found me,” he told BBC Scotland News.

“They reached out to me, either after seeing my work online or at a convention.”

Kit was invited to Billund, where the family-owned firm is based, to install his models in the gallery with the other designers from as far away as Japan and Mexico.

Kathrine Kirk Muff, managing director of Lego House said their Masterpiece Gallery was a “celebration of creativity and imagination” from the global Lego fan community.

“Each year, we invite a small number of talented builders from around the world to display their work at Lego House, and Kit Nugent’s models impressed us with their originality, technical skill, and connection to local culture,” she said.

“It’s always inspiring to see how fans continue to push the limits of what’s possible with Lego bricks.”

Kit’s Sherlock and Watson model took him two weeks to design.

It incorporates almost 1,000 bricks and uses a Lego dog for Sherlock’s nose while Watson’s is made using a chicken brick.

The Old Man and the Sea, inspired by Hemingway’s novella, shows Santiago in his effort to catch a giant marlin.

Kit investigated fish anatomy to help build the marlin.

“That led me to build a central spine and use a series of flex tubes to create a ribcage structure,” he said.

His 7,500-piece thatched cottage was based on the British Picturesque movement.

Although it only took him a month to design the piece, the thatched roof was the result of two years of developing a technique to show the texture and uses 1,200 minifigure wands.

Kit said he would not have believed he would have his work displayed in Lego House, known as the Home of the Brick, when he first visited it in 2018.

“I remember pressing my face against the window, before opening hours, to admire all the incredible creations inside,” he said.

“Now, to have my own work displayed as part of this collection, surrounded by so many amazing creations, is truly unbelievable.”

Now in his second year of an architecture and structural engineering degree at Jesus College in Cambridge, Kit said Lego building had been a huge influence through his childhood.

He was five years old when his neighbours emigrated, leaving him with several bags of bricks.

“One issue though – there were no instructions!” he said.

“So, from a very young age I started building my own creations and have built in this way ever since.”

He added: “I think what has interested me is the iterative process – when it doesn’t work you try it again.”

He asked for Lego sets every birthday and Christmas and then started ordering individual parts second-hand on online marketplaces for Lego enthusiasts.

As for the future, Kit is unsure what direction his career will take.

“Lego is everyone’s dream but I’m not sure what I’ll do – it’s a long way off,” he said.