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82,000 bricks and 300 hours of labour and love later, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland have come to Tūranga.

The largescale LEGO creation It’s Always Tea Time! by Centuri Chan and Wendy Graham is on display at the Central City library’s Hapori floor.

Tūranga Takeover: A LEGO Extravaganza - Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 January
  • Expanded Play Area: Enjoy the Christchurch Brick Show’s ramp run, LEGO walk of fire, and extra play pits.
  • Interactive Exhibits: Contribute to the Murmurations exhibit and explore LEGO mosaics and architecture.
  • Creative Workshops:
    • LEGO Movie Making (Level 4, Computer Labs): 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm
    • Remote-Controlled Car Building (Ground Level, Spark Place): 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm
    • Team Battlebots for ages 12+ (Level 1, Activity Room): 11am-1pm ($30 registration required online)

Schedule of Events by Level:

  • He Hononga (Ground Level): LEGO Technic, 10am-5pm
  • Hapori (Level 1): Expanded play area, LEGO walk of fire, ramp run, 11am-5pm
  • Creative Space (Level 1): Murmurations, 10am-5pm
  • Tuakiri (Level 2): LEGO Architecture with white bricks, 10am-5pm
  • Tūhurutanga (Level 3): LEGO Mosaics, 10am-5pm
  • Auahatanga (Level 4): Movie Making with LEGO, 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm
It features the iconic mad tea party scene with Alice, the Mad Hatter, March Hare, Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit and was created for the 2024 Christchurch Brick Show.  

“The characters took 30-40 hours each to create. We started with Alice first, she was the hardest and the focus of the display, so we got the scale and colours for the whole piece from her,” Centuri said.

“We’ve put in a lot of little details in for kids to find, there are hidden flamingos, mini version of the characters. The more you look, the more you’ll see.”

“Alice’s dress is made from three Vespa LEGO sets, she’s got pies for buttons – there’s just a lot of different things like that,” he said.

Christchurch City Council Acting Head of Libraries and Information Chris Hay said the impressive display is one of several LEGO events running at Christchurch City Libraries to mark International LEGO Day.

LEGO-based charity, Imagination Station, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary on 25 and 26 January at Tūranga. It will be taking over the library for the weekend with an expanded play area, interactive exhibits and creative workshops.

Imagination Station Managing Director, Traci Stanbury said: “We’re passionate about ensuring that our space is accessible to everyone in the community.”

“LEGO is a such a great tool to teach STEM concepts and accessibility is so important to support creativity, fun, and engaging education.”

Almost 60,000 people visit Imagination Station at Tūranga every year.

“We’ve loved having the dedicated Imagination Station space available since Tūranga opened its doors in 2018,” Mr Hay said

“Not everybody has LEGO at home, so having it at the library means anyone can make the most of the incredible collection of LEGO, LEGO Technic and DUPLO and all the hands-on learning that goes along with that."

Christchurch City Libraries is also running its annual Brick Your Book competition to make a scene, character or cover from your favourite book from Monday 27 January.

“There are so many ways to get involved with LEGO at the library between now and the end of the school holidays – let the imaginations run wild,” Mr Hay said.

Find out more on the Christchurch City Libraries website.