The previous posts I made on the improvement of the Modular Bookshop 10270 and the Police Station 10278 have been well received and so I wanted to showcase another official LEGO® set that can be improved without buying two sets and making it bigger.
The Assembly Square is the biggest official modular building so far and would be considered by many LEGO® fans as one of the best modular buildings released by LEGO® so far. It is very detailed both with the exterior and interior. It has 8 different establishments/businesses which shows diversity in a compact area of a LEGO® city.
There have also been several alternate builds of the Assembly Square such as:
Town Square Pub
Dentist’s Office
LEGO Modular Assembly Square
However, the official design set is still very beautiful and can also be improved without turning it into one of the alternative designs.
Sand Blue Building
One of the main changes I made with the Assembly Square set was to build the sand blue building on a 32×32 base plate instead of the 16×32 that came with the official LEGO® set. I also mirror built it and placed it on the back part to make the building look bigger without actually adding bricks and pieces to the build.
This left the front part open for a scene using the instruments on the music store which was in the middle floor of the building. This set up has made the overall look of the Assembly Square more open unlike the closed off center with just the fountain.
Some of the space in front was also used to extend the outside seating of the Parisian Restaurant. By incorporating the additional seating and placing vines on the alley that connects Assembly Square and Parisian Restaurant, there is a seamless transition and a cohesive flow from all the buildings as what you would normally see in real life. Now, all the minifigs from the buildings surrounding the open area, get to enjoy the live music from the band.
The sand green and medium nougat building is very solid and detailed on its own so I just added a small flower patch in front of the fountain for further details.
For the interior of the café, I added a microwave on the corner and a few cans & bottles on the bottom of the table. So as not to waste the space under stairs, I also added a sink with tap and soap.
For the flower shop, some additional varieties of flowers were added. More plants could be added hanging on the wall, if you want.
There are some spaces in the cake shop where you can place more sweets, swirls and pastries. I have placed them on bottom of the big cake. I added 2 layers of pastries on the side window and chocolates and cookies on the corner that leads to the flower shop. I also added a blue cake and a baguette just to make the cake shop more detailed.
For the ballet studio, tileworks make the scene look more elegant. Placing some flowers on each window, a lamp, chair and guitar also help create a good ambiance inside the building.
With all the instruments being used outside of the building, there was no need for the music store. So, I made an office for an interior designer. I placed a working desk with a computer, a drawing/drafting desk, a board with different color palettes. I also placed some books, magazines on a shelf and some trophies/awards. Given that there is a little more space available without having the room look to crowded, I also placed a coffee maker and an aquarium. As shown in the photos, most of the furniture are placed beside the walls. This was done to make sure that the room still looks like minifigs can walk around the room but keep it as detailed as possible.
With the roof, I moved the skylight 2 studs closer to the hatch/door so that it can have enough space for a table and some chairs. I also placed a faucet and small grill on the side to completely utilize the available space.
The photo studio was tiled with tan and gold color to contrast the sand green, light bluish gray and white color of the room.
The dentist’s office is the biggest room among all the establishments and could use a lot of additional details. Tileworks using white, light bluish gray and dark blue match well with the clean look of a dentist’s office. I also placed a computer, a chair and some more magazines on the side.
For the apartment on the top floor, a simple light bluish gray tileworks for the most part of the room and then white and dark tan tiles for the kitchen and bathroom work. I’ve also placed a sink and shower on the bathroom to complete the look. A family portrait and small table with bread add a bit more detail to the room.
For the roof top, I’ve put more details on the grill with some sausages, burgers, cheese, catchup and mustard. I’ve also placed some plants on one side of the roof and faucet & sink on the other side so that the spaces were not wasted. On the top most part of the building, I placed a jacuzzi, some flowers and towels to complement the barbeque grill on the other side of the roof top.
Like the modification I made with the Birch Bookshop and the police station, most of the pieces I used are common and easy to collect. They may already be in your collection and adding them to the Assembly Square can make the building more interesting than it already is. I’m sure that there are more ways to improve its beauty both on the interior and exterior. This is a good way to practice being resourceful and innovative which will lead to you becoming better at MOC’ing and modifying.
If you have your own suggestions, please leave a comment below so others may also get some ideas for their own Assembly Square. I intend to post more improvements for the other modular sets so be on the lookout for other blogs.
I hope this post has been helpful for you. Until next time, keep building and having fun with LEGO!
