The Lego façade of What_architecture's addition faces the courtyard of the Cowley St. Laurence Church of England Primary School and Children's Centre, where it is visible to students, teachers, and visiting parents. The structure to the right is for administrators, while the one to the left is part of the children's center. In between them, above the entrance gate, is a room for school staff.
Students designed icons for the Lego walls and helped with construction. The original plan was for the icons to be multicolored, but the number of available hues proved overwhelming, so a decision was made to go with black. (The red bricks throughout the façade delineate the layout grid.) As What_architecture director Anthony Hoete notes, "The school was very keen that this populist façade attempt be a little timeless ... and so it borrows the black and white from modern architecture's palette."
To fasten the Lego wall to the underlying fiber-cement board, standard Lego blocks with holes that can accommodate screws were used and then hidden behind another Lego piece.The covering pieces are all colored yellow, for easy location.
