Published 27 August 2020 • Inter IKEA newsroom

Introducing BYGGLEK – play and storage in one

IKEA and LEGO reveal the result of their exciting new collaboration. The BYGGLEK collection is a playful storage solution that encourages creativity.

Today, IKEA of Sweden AB and the LEGO Group revealed the long-awaited outcome of their collaboration. The two brands have joined forces to create a playful storage solution called BYGGLEK. Consisting of a series of storage boxes with LEGO® studs and a special LEGO brick set, the new BYGGLEK collection aims to encourage play and infuse more fun into storage around the home. The BYGGLEK collection will be available in existing IKEA retail channels throughout Europe (except Russia) and North America from October 1. The global roll-out will happen in 2020. (Check online for local availability).

With a strong belief that play makes both the home and the world a better place, IKEA of Sweden AB and the LEGO Group set out to remove barriers to play in daily life, whilst creating a practical yet playful experience that children and adults could enjoy together.

Play is the most intuitive and powerful way for children to learn and grow. However, children and adults sometimes have different views when it comes to play and creativity at home. Where adults often have a need to create structure and to organize, children see a stimulating and creative environment in which they naturally want to play, pause and then replay.\*

In tidying up and reorganizing children’s creative space during playtime, we not only disrupt their play but also their creative expression and growth. Therefore, we wanted to create a storage solution that itself offers a fun playful experience. As the BYGGLEK boxes are equipped with LEGO studs on the top and the front, kids can integrate the storage boxes as part of their LEGO builds. They can store their stories inside them, and proudly display their creations on top of them.

“At IKEA, we always believe in the power of play. Play lets us explore, experiment, dream and discover.” said Andreas Fredriksson, designer at IKEA of Sweden, “Where adults often see mess, children see a stimulating creative environment, and BYGGLEK will help bridge the gap between these two views to ensure more creative play in homes around the world. Plus, the BYGGLEK collection matches perfectly with other IKEA products, making it possible to have your children’s creativity become a nice and unique piece of decoration at home.”

Speaking about the creative solution, Rasmus Buch Løgstrup, designer at the LEGO Group said “BYGGLEK is more than boxes. It is storage and play intertwined. BYGGLEK 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. It’s a possibility to play, display the cool creations and return to it to replay, remake, recreate or start over. BYGGLEK is all about endless possibilities, just like the LEGO System in Play.”

The BYGGLEK range consists of 4 different products – one set of 3 small boxes, and two sets of bigger boxes and one set of LEGO bricks to kick-start the playful experience. BYGGLEK can be used with any existing and future LEGO elements, as the studs used on the lid and front are part of the LEGO system in play. The LEGO System in play enables children to build and rebuild their own stories and through this process develop essential 21st century skills – with BYGGLEK we hope to extend the LEGO play experience in providing fun creative storage solutions that are just as playable as they are functional.

\* In the IKEA Play Report, IKEA asked children what they want and 47% of them said that they want more playtime with their parents. At the same time 90% of the asked parents believe play is essential to wellbeing and happiness, building on to the belief that play is important. In the LEGO Play Well Study 2020, parents recognise the importance of letting kids play, well the way kids play. With 8 in 10 admitting messy play makes children feel free and helps develop their creativity (85%). Yet, 1 in 2 parents worry about their child making a mess when playing and feel a compulsion to tidy up around their kids even while their child is still playing (51%). 9 in 10 children confirm this, saying their parents tell them to tidy up while they are still playing (90%).