A few months ago I went on a trip to Amsterdam where I saw different styles of architecture which inspired me to build My Amsterdam Street. This is one of my favorite original builds for several reasons: First, most of the designs are based on real buildings I saw in Amsterdam! In addition, the build is clean and intricate but also fun and colorful. I’ll discuss some of the other features that make this one of my favorite builds of mine throughout the “tour” of my Amsterdam-inspired build!
For this build, I built two seperate buildings. The first building I’ll be touring you through is my toy store!
The exterior of the toy store is bright and inviting. The large windows allow for display of the toys inside, the flowers are colorful and lively, and the bicycle rack also adds detail to the outside of the store! The stone bricks also give the contemporary and minimalistic mood which I felt was a common design goal in Amsterdam.
The toy store is one of the buildings I designed based on an antique toy store in Amsterdam that a mentor of mine said I should visit! The toy store I built has LEGO’s (of course!), collectible figurines, stuffed animals, some fun hats, and two antique cars! While it’s small, it still has a lot of fun toys to offer.
The very special and unique figurines are behind the counter, with the gold minifigure at the top! Of course, this refers to the well-known Mr. Gold figure from Series 10 Minifigures. I had fun choosing which toys to include and where to put them in the store. The nano-figures are displayed so a person walking down the street can see them but they’re also displayed inside! The globe in the center of the room helps carry the antique-feel of the store and goes with the antique toy cars.
To add more detail, I used the textured 1×2 brick (as seen in both images). The navy blue highlight also adds both detail and color to the interior and exterior of the toy store. There are a total of nine window pieces and six transparent 1×2 pieces which surround the door. I also used the same color combination (navy blue and white with the sand and tan as flooring) in my Traveler’s Cottage! I personally like the combination because it’s simple, modern, and contemporary.
The second building is a relaxed but fancy restaurant/bar.
I chose to make the restaurant’s exterior and interior darker than the toy store to create contrast and give off different vibes. In many ways they’re similar in style, though. The exterior of the restaurant is modern and minimalistic, similar to the toy store. The stone path and fire on the outside is meant to attract customers. In Amsterdam the buildings were often elevated or slightly below street level so I chose to elevate both building one brick up with the textured brick piece.
The interior is dark, using gray, brown, black, tan, and sand colored bricks. The windows are also tinted and blue in contrast with the toy store. I also want to point of the two different colored walls – the main color for this building is black but the inclusion of a tan accent wall helps brighten the space. Again, the use of textured 1×2 bricks are used in the tan wall to give off a rustic feel.
Although it seems that there isn’t a lot of space to cook food for customers, the main menu consists of mostly pizza, burgers, and sandwiches!
For the customers at the bar, the tan wall has two TVs, one for news and the other changes programs! There’s also a dessert menu hanging on the wall. There is a special ship-in-a-bottle hanging on the wall in a special container, too. Although it’s very small, there is a one-person bathroom in the restaurant.
There are four windows used in the restaurant and two transparent blue doors.
Both the toy store and the restaurant have back doors which lead to the same area. The back space is mostly storage and most likely a space where deliveries are made. There’s some foliage, too! From the back of the build, you may also notice the rainbow base which was built from Duplos and then one layer of 2×4 bricks. This rainbow-base is continuous!
The base actually represents the street being above sea level due to canals that run throughout Amsterdam! Again, the rainbow contrasts with the buildings that stand on it. The rainbow-base is a fun addition to the set because it brings uniqueness and color to a build that, without it, would be a lot less interesting to look at.
Overall, this was definitely one of my top designs. It took me about 15 hours to build the base, cover it with plates, build another layer for the buildings to stand on, design and construct the restaurant and toy store, and add final touches!
This is an especially unique build for me design wise. I enjoyed looking at real photos I took from Amsterdam and incorporating those designs into this build! The sidewalk and road for cars is narrow which is realistic to Amsterdam’s sidewalks and roads! It was also fun adding more small details such as the textured 1×2 bricks in the walls.
My Amsterdam Street reminded me of why I love building and designing with LEGOs so much. I was able to be creative and expand the way I think when I was designing – thinking about what’s practical and effective and what was unsuitable for the build in a realistic sense. That is why My Amsterdam Street was such a fun build for me.
Here are some additional photos of My Amsterdam Street:
Thanks for reading about My Amsterdam Street! Leave a comment below if you’d like! Or leave a suggestion for my next build!