First Lego café opens in Dublin

Last week saw the opening of the world’s first experimental LEGO Brick Café, a creative  space designed to grant grown-ups the opportunity to play with LEGO bricks. This café is unlike any place created to experience LEGO creativity, as it has been purpose-built for adults. Launched during World Mental Health Month, the café is designed as a space where adults can experience all the mental health benefits that play can bring.

The experiment is set to run for two days and is the result of an open innovation collaboration between the LEGO Lead User Lab – a department working with experimental open innovation ideas, and Boys+Girls creative agency, who developed the concept idea and submitted it to the LEGO Lead User Lab.At the café, guests will be able to choose from a selection of LEGO sets and bricks, which they can play with on-site. Among the various activities, guests can take part in facilitated workshops that demonstrate the multitude of creative uses LEGO bricks can have, such as stop-motion animation builds, mindfulness builds, expressive mosaic builds and open-canvas self-expression.

Kris Clarkin, creative director at Dublin-based creative agency, Boys+Girls, said, “Play is fundamental to life. It can help improve memory, increase creativity, and reduce stress. As LEGO fans we knew LEGO was the perfect brand to encourage more adults to play. The biggest barrier was coming up with a setting that wouldn’t be perceived as a place for kids. The intention for the LEGO Brick Café experiment was to design an inspiration space where like minded people can meet and play, while sharing ideas. I’m excited to see how people interact and respond to building with bricks in a setting like this one.”

The LEGO Brick Café is initially being trialled in Dublin at Hen’s Teeth, Blackpitts, Dublin 8 for two days. The results of this experiment will be used to assess the consumer appetite for this new way of experiencing LEGO play.

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