Most people can’t imagine taking a 40 year break from anything, but that’s exactly what Tsky64 (or Bricksky as he’s known on Flickr) did when he gave up building with LEGO® bricks.

Of course, it isn’t likely that he saw it as a break really, few do. He had enjoyed playing with bricks as a child, but gave them up as he got older. It wasn’t until recently that he revisited the hobby again as an adult.

Since then he’s joined the Vancouver LEGO Club, and taken home the award for Best Medium Planetary Structure at BrickCon 2013 with his Friends’ Ammunition Reloading Bay, featured on the right.

“It was the first ever LEGO convention I have attended,” explains the ReBricker of the Week. “It was a lot of fun to participate in and a huge unexpected success for me!  I was very happy just to show and share my creations with the public.”

The 50-year-old builder mostly specializes in LEGO space models, but sometimes he branches out to other areas of interest – like Calvin and Hobbes.

“I hope that my creations are unique and inspiring for others,” he goes on. While he will be attending BrickCon again this year, he isn’t bringing on another large space model.

“I will bring some other smaller [models] though…  I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else brings!” He concludes.

If you’re at BrickCon next Month, come say “hi” to Tsky64 in person. If you can’t make it, you can browse his ReBrick bookmarks here.

A group of builders from the Fraser Valley recently joined forces to demonstrate that it’s possible to construct a new hospital from the ground up in about 90 hours.

How? You need skill, patience, creativity and about 7,000 pieces of Lego. The result is a two-foot tall replica of Surrey Memorial Hospital’s new Critical Care Tower. The structure even has its own ambulance, helicopter and medical staff — all made of Lego.

The replica was commissioned by Jane Adams, president & CEO of Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation, as a unique auction item for an upcoming charity golf tournament organized by EllisDon, the company that orchestrated the construction of the real Critical Care Tower.

The idea of creating a Lego tower came to Adams after she learned that the Child Life specialists at Surrey Memorial use these simple building blocks to help young patients and siblings in the Children’s Health Centre and the pediatric emergency department cope with their time in the hospital.

Earlier this summer, Lego enthusiast and Langley resident Lee Wager rallied members of the Abbotsford Lego User Group (AbbyLUG) to volunteer their time and take on the challenge.

EllisDon supplied Wager with photos and drawings, and he also paid a visit to the hospital for a closer look. He notes that one of the biggest challenges of using Lego to build architectural pieces is working with Lego’s geometric shapes and figuring out how to accommodate unique features, such as curved walls.

For the hospital tower, Wager and the group had to replicate the one-of-a-kind windows above the lobby and source out enough blue bricks needed to build the distinctive coloured walls of the main building. It’s all part of the Lego building challenge, he says.

“It’s fun to try to create or innovate with Lego, because it has its limitations.”

The Lego enthusiasts’ creation was on the auction block at the golf tournament on July 22. The golfers and guests included many of the contractors, trades and suppliers involved in building the province’s newest and most technologically advanced health care facility.

For more information about Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation, visit www.smhfoundation.com.

To find out more about the Abbotsford Lego User Group go to www.abbylug.com.

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I couldn’t find an image online that matched the angle above, but this one taken from the Fraser Health website shows the Critical Care Tower it was modelled on.

http://www.fraserhealth.ca/about_us/building_for_better_health/surrey_memorial_hospital