Lego and Ikea collaborate on the Bygglek collection, making storage more playful

The long-awaited Lego Ikea collaboration is officially here. The Bygglek collection combines what both companies do best – play and organisation, respectively – with a set of storage boxes equipped with Lego studs on the top and front, to be incorporated into playtime as landscapes or display platforms for Lego builds, and a place to tidy away the bricks afterwards.

The range also includes its own special Lego kit, to kickstart playtime, and the marketing images provide ample inspiration for how to use your Bygglek boxes: as a launch pad for a rocket, for instance, or the storeys of a house, or piled up to create one giant robot.

The concept behind the range is driven by the eternal conflict between kids and their parents when it comes to tidying up. Whereas adults want to organise and impose structure, children see their environment as a creative canvas to play with (and mess up), and when adults tidy up their play space they disrupt the little ones’ creative expression.

The Ikea Play Report recently found that 47 per cent of children wanted more playtime with their parents, while 90 per cent of parents believed play was essential to wellbeing and happiness. Concurrently, the Lego Play Well Study 2020 found that 85 per cent of parents believed messy play helped children feel free and developed creative skills; yet half of parents worried about their child making a mess, and felt a compulsion to tidy up while their child was still playing.

Bygglek is the first product to result from the two brands’ collective findings, hoping to remove the barriers to play in daily life and infuse more fun into practical home items.

Ikea of Sweden designer Andreas Fredriksson explains: “Where adults see mess, children see a stimulating creative environment, and Bygglek will help bridge the gap between these two views.” The collection also matches other Ikea products, he adds, so kids' creations can become a “unique piece of decoration at home”.

Lego designer Rasmus Buch Løgstrup describes Bygglek as “more than boxes. It is storage and play intertwined. [It] provides families with a product range that helps create space for more play in their everyday – fuelling creativity, making it possible to have more fun together”.

The Bygglek range comprises four products: one set of three small boxes, two sets of bigger boxes, and one set of Lego bricks to complement the boxes. Prices start from £10 and the collection will be available in Ikea stores and online from 10 October.