Peek inside LEGO’s massive new American factory

Part of the LEGO Group’s huge new carbon-neutral American factory is open to the public, offering an early peek at the future site.

Following an announcement in June 2023, the LEGO Group’s plans for a massive carbon-neutral manufacturing site in Richmond, Virginia in the United States are underway. The company recently announced that it had hired the program lead and general contractor, meaning work is ongoing for the planned opening in 2024.

However, while it’s still relatively early days in the factory’s lifetime, you can already go and have a look at what’s been built so far: a visitor’s centre. reddit user TheShatzAgain did just that, stopping off in Richmond, Virginia to see inside the huge yellow LEGO brick that houses the first stages of the factory and sharing what they saw on reddit.

The visitors’ centre is open every day from 10am and you can drive up without a booking to take a look for yourself. The yellow building, designed to look like a classic LEGO brick, is home to a brief timeline of the LEGO Group as a company, as well as a map of what to expect from the factory down the line. As well as various manufacturing stations, there’s also space allocated for 100 children from local communities to play, suggesting there will be some integration with the public.

What’s more, there are more details on how the LEGO Group plans to run this manufacturing site as carbon neutral, with 34.4 hectares dedicated to the solar farm that will generate energy for the factory.

Other than the visitors’ centre, there’s not a whole lot else to say, other than some LEGO-themed billboards demonstrating where the future building work will take place.

The Virginia factory is estimated to cost over $1 billion and create 1,760 jobs over ten years. Indeed, another reddit user who apparently currently works for the LEGO Group commented on the post to highlight that plenty of jobs will soon be up for grabs.

“I can definitely say we will have plenty of positions available as we ready the factory,” they wrote. “Always be on the lookout for jobs and just remember to be yourself when applying! Ability to fit the culture is the one of the most important aspects we look for.”

Featured image: TheShatzAgain on reddit

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