In summer 2025, the LEGO Group unveiled their US HQ, a new state-of-the-art workspace in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. Guided by the LEGO Group’s commitment to colleague well-being, sustainability, and collaboration, Structure Tone Boston’s team partnered with BDG Architecture + Design and Syska Hennessy Group to create this colorful, light-filled space spanning six stories within the newly opened Lyrik building at 1001 Boylston Street.
PROJECT DETAILS:
Location: Boston, MA
Client: The LEGO Group
Size: 157,000sf
Architect: BDG Architecture + Design
Engineers: Syska Hennessy Group (MEP); McNamara Salvia (structural)
Owner’s Rep: Redgate
Certifications: LEED and WELL Gold
Sector: Commercial
Completion: May 2025
Designed by BDG, the LEGO Group space is LEED Gold- and WELL Gold certified and equipped with sky terraces, over 90 meeting spaces, over 660 workstations, a product showroom, a retail testing area, a LEGO Brick Design Workshop, complimentary gym access, parents’ rooms, and flexible wellness areas for employees to engage in meditation, prayer, or relaxation. Playful common spaces, like the sky terraces, support team connection and collaborative working, and provide a capacity for continued growth. Construction also included the installation of radial staircases, a reception area, pantries, a novelty showroom, retail testing room, and barista café.
BUILDING A BRAND
With such a recognizable, creativity-driven brand, the pressure was on the team to get the details just right. With design inspiration drawn from the stud and tube design on a LEGO brick, each floor was themed a different color and much of the space was curved—from round pantries on every floor to 46 round conference rooms. These round rooms required collective cross-coordination between many different trade jurisdictions. According to Structure Tone superintendent Sarah Wolfel, the team identified this need early on to stay ahead of customized and long-lead procurement items so they could maintain the overall construction schedule.
“Building round rooms takes really precise measurements of curves and radiuses, and lots of checking and double-checking,” says Wolfel. “It took four layers of quarter-inch sheet rock and metal in every room to get those curves just right so we needed to be sure we built in enough time.”
Of course, the LEGO Group headquarters wouldn’t be complete without LEGO® models. Installing the physical models—including one representing a double helix DNA that spins—required extensive coordination. For the murals in particular, the ceiling had to match up precisely to the models.
“I was lucky enough to go to the LEGO model shop and help build the seventh-floor Boston LEGO mural,” says Wolfel. “By the end, I was pretty close with the team, making sure that they had everything they need and helping them get models into the building and installed.”
At the same time, the Structure Tone team was keeping an eye on the progress of the four central staircases across five floors. The team built the project schedule around these feature stairs to plan around the safety implications of a large hole in the space, the usability of each floor while under construction, and the logistics of maneuvering the steel and other materials required.
“Completing each staircase was a major milestone,” says Ryan Megenedy, Structure Tone senior account executive. “If a staircase schedule was off, the whole floor’s schedule would be off, so it was critical that we kept it on track.”
BUILDING A TEAM
With so many complexities to consider, teamwork was the name of the game—down to specification documents.
“Much of the LEGO Group’s facilities team are based in Europe so their building standards are based on European building codes and qualified guidelines,” says Scott Whear, Structure Tone assistant project manager. “We worked really closely with them and associated consultants to adjust the specifications and assure the Americanized construction elements met the European standards. For IT components like wiring and MDF rooms, it was incredibly important.”
The construction team was so effective in solving these challenges that the LEGO Group presented their top workplace construction project award to Wolfel, making her the fourth person to ever win the award—and the first to win who does not work for the LEGO Group.
BUILDING AN IMPACT
Adding the LEGO Group to Boston’s roster of corporate headquarters was big news in the city, and the Structure Tone team could not have been more proud to celebrate with the client and the community. The May 15, 2025 ribbon-cutting drew high-profile Boston leaders, such as Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, plus global leaders of the LEGO Group, including its CEO, Niels B. Christiansen. As part of the office’s unveiling, the company announced a $5 million philanthropic commitment over two years to bring play to more local children.
“This fantastic new LEGO workspace is an important part of our US investment strategy, becoming a talent magnet in this important market,” Niels B.
Christiansen noted at the opening. “The Boston Hub will open up new ways for LEGO colleagues to create, connect and grow as we continue our mission to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow across the US.”