Ōtautahi gets the Lego treatment: City landmarks rebuilt brick by brick for Open Christchurch

Monday, 27 April 2026

Christchurch is getting a bit of a makeover — and this time it’s Lego-style.

A total of 14 miniature versions of the city’s famous landmarks will be rebuilt brick by brick by a team of Ōtautahi’s best Lego builders, bringing Christchurch’s architecture to life in remarkable detail for Open Christchurch.

Among them is Centuri Chan, who has taken on two of the Ōtautahi in Bricks exhibition’s standout builds: a towering Sugarloaf transmission site and the Old Government Building. Chan said recreating the 120.9m steel structure that towers over the city had been “the most challenging”.

And, like many great creations, they began somewhere unexpectedly ordinary. “The best place to build them is actually on the dining table. When we’re building … we lose the functionality of our dining table as a dining space.”

The model makes you rethink what counts as “miniature”. Built at 1:50 scale, the Sugarloaf tower alone stands at about 2.4m.

Stability is the biggest hurdle, and sourcing the right bricks has been another challenge. Thousands of thin red and white elements were needed to match the tower’s distinctive look.

Chan and his team have gone beyond just the mast, recreating the entire site — including the low-slung concrete building, hillside, access roads and surrounding terrain.

With no instruction booklet to follow, the team turned to drone footage, aerial photography and contour maps to understand how the hillside sits.

Lego artist Centuri Chan is recreating the Sugarloaf transmission site at 1:50 scale.

“YouTube drone videos were really helpful,” Chan said. “We were able to use those as reference.”

By the time it is finished, the model will have about 45,000 pieces and have taken roughly 200 hours of work.

And while it has been put together in Chan’s home, it still has to be transported to the exhibition at Tūranga – a precarious journey which will require its careful dismantling into sections, before it is put together again in situ.

If Sugarloaf is about scale, the Old Government Building is about detail and storytelling.

The Sugarloaf transmission site has about 45,000 pieces and involves roughly 200 hours of work.

Chan wants the model to be instantly recognisable, with the grand central staircase — one of its defining features — at its heart.

Interior scenes will be filled with more than 50 minifigures, bringing the building to life.

“It just adds life to a model,” he said. “The minifigures represent different eras … and help create scenes that relate to the actual building.”

The Sugarloaf tower celebrated its 60th anniversary at the end of last year.

He is also planning a nod to OGB bar owner Nick Inkster, whose bar operates within the building.

“I’m quite a fan of the bar — OGB is one of my favourites. I know Nick, and he’s really looking forward to seeing it in Lego,” he said.

Inkster’s classic Austin 10 car, often parked outside, will also be recreated.

The scale model of the Old Government Building built by Centuri Chan and his team.

“When I finish it, I might have to put a little Lego minifigure with an orange beard out the front to represent what he looks like,” he said.

Born in Christchurch, Chan, 46, has been a Lego artist for about 15 years.

The Old Government Building was once the New Government Building and is one of few heritage buildings in central Christchurch to survive the earthquakes.

Previous models include The Dux de Lux pub, the Christ Church Cathedral, India’s Taj Mahal, and St Mark’s Square in Venice.

Earlier this year he collaborated on a large-scale Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland scene for the Christchurch Brick Show.

Nick Inkster, owner and manager of the OGB bar, with his rare Austin 10 car, pictured in April 2021.

Among the other Christchurch landmarks being built for the exhibition include the Mona Vale Bathhouse, the Lyttelton Timeball Station and Antigua Boat Sheds.

Jessica Halliday, director of Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making, which is organising Open Christchurch, said the exhibition was designed to spark curiosity about the real buildings behind the models.

“Scale models of buildings capture the imagination,” she said.

“We are so lucky to have eight of the city’s best Lego builders creating models of iconic Christchurch architecture for the Ōtautahi in Bricks exhibition.”

The free exhibition is in the central library Tūranga from 10am to 5pm on May 2 and 3.