[MOC] [BDP-S4 and S5] Opera House

[CroissantBricks]

Update: 
We updated the design of the Opera House.
Here's the page of the new version submitted to BDP series 5: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-5/1746/Opera-House
 

More details about the updated design:

 

Original post:
Hi everyone!

Here's the Opera House design we submitted to the Bricklink Designer Program Series 4.

We hope you like it! Please support us by clicking "Love it" in the link below if you want this design to become a set. 
Opera House on Bricklink Series 4

 

 

Here are some actual pictures of our prototype. We're still missing the minifigures, the interior stickers, and a couple of decorative pieces, but it's 99.5% complete.

 

Edited June 7, 2024 by CroissantBricks
Updated the fist post to include info about the new design

[hugore]

This is awesome! I'm in love with it!

The "Forbidden Connection" in one of the billboards is a very nice touch. Admirable!

Edited February 7, 2024 by hugore

[Henning M.]

simply awesome - many very fine details. I hope you get it approved.

[Yoggington]

You've got a 'love it' from me.

Lots to love here indeed. In particular the shaping to the building's rear is very clever.

[CroissantBricks]

6 hours ago, hugore said:

This is awesome! I'm in love with it!

The "Forbidden Connection" in one of the billboards is a very nice touch. Admirable!

Thanks! I'm quite proud of finding this title with double meaning. 

6 hours ago, Henning M. said:

simply awesome - many very fine details. I hope you get it approved.

Thank you!

4 hours ago, Yoggington said:

You've got a 'love it' from me.

Lots to love here indeed. In particular the shaping to the building's rear is very clever.

Thank you for the support! We spent a lot of time figuring out how to build the curved rear. Achieving that shape while having the floors detachable and also trying to avoid creating gaps in the walls/floor was what took us the longest.

[Jack Sassy]

A beautiful model! Goes to show that it is possible to create an opera modular. Well done! 

[Feuer Zug]

Quite the build. Good array of details all around. Love the posters.

[_TLG_]

Nice build with many details!

[CroissantBricks]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:37 PM, Jack Sassy said:

A beautiful model! Goes to show that it is possible to create an opera modular. Well done! 

Thank you! We went a bit outside of the modular standard: The base is 1.5 baseplate deep which is a bit of a peculiar size for a modular layout, but it was the best way to achieve the overall design we wanted, especially in order to include everything we wanted in the interior. 

We will add a half baseplate behind the building with either a fountain or statue when we integrate the opera into our city (when we have space for a proper city, lol). This way, both the front and the back of the building will be visible, and we quite like both. 

On 2/8/2024 at 8:40 AM, Feuer Zug said:

Quite the build. Good array of details all around. Love the posters.

Thank you. We had a lot of fun creating the posters and titles for the performances. 

19 hours ago, _TLG_ said:

Nice build with many details!

Thank you! 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Oooh yes I love it!

[BrickPerfection]

Nice to see that you also built it with real bricks! Looks really good! 

I am just wondering about the accessibility of the seats from the top, might be ok actually with taking out the balconies section.

[CroissantBricks]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:53 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Oooh yes I love it!

Thank you!

 

21 hours ago, BrickPerfection said:

Nice to see that you also built it with real bricks! Looks really good! 

I am just wondering about the accessibility of the seats from the top, might be ok actually with taking out the balconies section.

Thank you!

We wanted to build the model with real bricks to check the stability and structural integrity of the design before submitting it. Having the IRL prototype in parallel to the Stud.io version helped us ensure that the design is rigid enough. We probably could have reduced the piece count if we were willing to sacrifice on the stability of the model, but it's not something we wanted to cheapen out on. As it is, I can even lift each section with a single hand. 

The balcony seats are easily accessible from the front of the balconies. Here's a quick picture of me placing my sigfig into one of them. It can be done with the balconies section in place or when it's taken out, like in this picture.

 

[Patgeo]

Very nice build with plenty of genuine touches! Well done!

[Teofrast024]

We have one such theater in our city) 

[Yoggington]

I see you've submitted an updated version of this to Series 5. Best of luck, this is one that I would very much like to buy.

In the case that it doesn't make the cut, please consider selling instructions!

 

I will add a link to it, in case anyone else reading might give it some "love": https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-5/1746/Opera-House

Edited June 5, 2024 by Yoggington

[CroissantBricks]

On 6/5/2024 at 7:50 PM, Yoggington said:

I see you've submitted an updated version of this to Series 5. Best of luck, this is one that I would very much like to buy.

In the case that it doesn't make the cut, please consider selling instructions!

 

I will add a link to it, in case anyone else reading might give it some "love": https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-5/1746/Opera-House

Thank you!

After taking some time off from working on the design, we realized that weren't completely happy with the facade of our initial version, so we decided to update it for series 5.
Our second main objective for the new design was to reduce the piece count. Our series 4 submission had over 3900 pieces and that seemed to be a bit too much (which was confirmed in some feedback we received from the BDP team). We identified several details which were using pieces in suboptimal ways and used more pieces than necessary. Reworking some techniques and redistributing the details allowed us to significantly reduce the piece count while making the building a bit more interesting (to us, at least), with more windows and greenery. We reduced slightly the size of the building so it fits on a single baseplate, which makes it easier to display on shelves (like we do, because we unfortunately don't have room for a city layout). It also makes the building look a bit more balanced, in our opinion. 

Our new design has a much more reasonable 2874 pieces, which is in line with recent modulars (excluding the Natural History Museum which is 1.5 baseplate). We also added 3 minifigures, bringing the total to 9. 

Thank you for posting the link to vote, I'll also copy it here again: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-5/1746/Opera-House

If the design doesn't get selected we will eventually post it for sale on rebrickable after polishing the instructions.

We learned Blender to create renders and while we still have a lot to learn, it allows us to have a much better control over the lighting. You can see the resulting images below, including a size comparison with the Boutique Hotel and Parisian Restaurant which we couldn't post on the submission page.

 

 

 

 

And finally, a size comparison with some official sets:

 

Edited June 7, 2024 by CroissantBricks

[paupadros]

Excellent design! I saw it on the BDP (second time now?). Whoa, a 1000 piece reduction is massive! Is that down mostly to using larger pieces wherever possible? I also think the façade has clearly improved, with a nicer balance between whites and tans. More narrower columns work really well. I think it's a bit of shame how it doesn't have the pins to properly connect to other modulars. I know it's a lot deeper than regular modular, but perhaps it could be the first 48x32 modular, with a proper street at the front. I also really like the graphic design work :) Overall, great improvement!

[CroissantBricks]

5 minutes ago, paupadros said:

 

I saw it on the BDP (second time now?). Whoa, a 1000 piece reduction is massive! Is that down mostly to using larger pieces wherever possible?

Yes, second time. Indeed, using large pieces whenever possible played a big role in reducing the piece count. We also reduced the height of the building by a few plates and the depth by 5 studs, which also saved a significant amount of pieces. And I also spent a loooooooot of time optimizing every aspect of the build, saving 1 piece here, 2 pieces there... 

 

8 minutes ago, paupadros said:

I think it's a bit of shame how it doesn't have the pins to properly connect to other modulars. I know it's a lot deeper than regular modular, but perhaps it could be the first 48x32 modular, with a proper street at the front.

That's a fair critique. :)
In series 4, we had designed it as a 48x32 "modular" with sidewalk on the front. For series 5, we wanted more flexibility in displaying the Opera, so one of our goals was for the building to fit on a single baseplate.
We considered adding an extra half-baseplate with a sidewalk and fountain, that would have been independent. This half-baseplate would have been able to be placed in the front, in the back, or on the side of the building. We had an early design for it, but it quickly became clear to us that in order to make it look decent the piece count would become too high. So we decided to sacrifice it and we instead built the flower cart to bring some life to the exterior of the building.

For the pins, we also considered them but we wanted the Opera House to be able to stand on its own, and we didn't find a way to integrate them without them looking a bit out of place when not connected. In the end, we decided to go for the look of the building we wanted, even if that meant not completely following the modular template. 

 

40 minutes ago, paupadros said:

Excellent design![...]I also think the façade has clearly improved, with a nicer balance between whites and tans. More narrower columns work really well. [...] I also really like the graphic design work :) Overall, great improvement!

Thank you for the compliments! 

[FGMatt]

Fabulous model!

[ivanlan9]

Both versions are terrific, lovely buildings indeed.

But I will point out that the last thing you want in an opera house/concert hall is a skylight.  You're immersing the audience in an audio experience, and you want them to concentrate on that experience.  Bleed from external lighting, skylights and windows are distracting and you are trying to isolate them from the world.

Second version is better on this point, but not perfect.

I wouldn't mind watching Carmen in this place (once the skylight is shielded!).

[Paul B Technic]

Wow, this is amazing.

[GI_Jack]

Very impressive build. Great model