You didn’t think that just because we finally finished the Tower Bridge that we were out of Lego projects, did you?

We’ve had the Grand Emporium stashed away for several months now. It’s my second favorite Lego set (after the Tower Bridge, of course), and now that Christmas has come and gone, we needed a new project, so last night, we broke it out.

This one is easier to assemble than the Tower Bridge for two reasons. The first is obvious…it has a lot fewer pieces! But, even more importantly, it’s designed so that instruction book one goes with the bags labeled one, and the same is true for books and bags two and three. With the Tower Bridge, we had to open all of the bags at the beginning, and sort through everything. It is much easier just having to open a specific set of bags, and work on one part at a time!

Last night, we built the first floor, which included a lot of really cool features, especially my favorite, a functioning revolving door:

There’s also an escalator (which will continue to go up as we add the remaining floors):

And the way the “Shop” sign is assembled is ingenious!

I also love the mannequins in the windows!

There are so many details in just the first floor of this set…I continue to be amazed with what the Lego designers are able to do with the bricks at their disposal!

In related news, I have come to learn this week that I actually have a favorite Lego designer…Jamie Berard. I didn’t know it before, but he designed the Tower Bridge and the Grand Emporium, as well as the new Parisian Restaurant, in addition to many other sets. I’m amused that all of my favorite Lego creations were imagined by the same person…I’m nothing if not consistent!