The five largest LEGO modular buildings

To celebrate the imminent release of 10278 Police Station, Brick Fanatics counts down the five largest LEGO modular buildings to date.

You don’t need to have memorised the entire history of the Modular Buildings Collection to know that 10278 Police Station is one of the biggest entries in the series. But where exactly does it stack up in relation to the rest of the collection?

That’s the question we wanted the answer to, so we dove back into the archives to pick out the largest modular buildings released since the subtheme debuted in 2007. We’re sticking with a LEGO metric, so ‘largest’ here means ‘highest number of pieces’. And with almost 3,000 elements in the box, surely 10278 Police Station is going to feature somewhere on this list…

5 – 10270 Bookshop

2020’s addition to the Modular Buildings Collection doesn’t stand particularly tall next to its comrades, but it does indeed boast the fifth-largest piece count of the subtheme to date. Once you start building it, though, you’ll realise why: its 2,504 elements have gone into creating an incredibly detailed interior across both buildings (even if Birch Books is technically a little light on actual books), while the towering birch tree also marks one of the largest pavement embellishments across any modular building so far.

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4 – 10264 Corner Garage

Three of the five corner modular buildings actually bear some of the lowest piece counts of the entire series, but 2019’s 10264 Corner Garage bucks that trend magnificently, eking ahead of 10270 Bookshop by just 64 pieces (and £10 / $20). Those 2,569 elements translate into a much heftier building than its immediate successor offers, and it’s clear to see where they’ve gone: from the detailed interior to the wonderfully-realised exterior and complementary tow truck, 10264 Corner Garage brings a lot to the table. But there are still three sets that have brought even more…

3 – 10224 Town Hall

The oldest set on this list is also the tallest – and, in fact, the tallest of all the modular buildings. That’s because it puts a great deal of its 2,766 pieces into achieving that remarkable height of half a metre, creating a building that will very appropriately dominate any layout you put it in. Of course, doing so means sacrificing some architectural detail, but you wouldn’t want a town hall to come in at the same height as the rest of your street. And 10224 Town Hall was already pushing boundaries in 2012, as the then-biggest (and most expensive) modular building to date.

2 – 10278 Police Station

The newest modular building slots straight in at second place, besting 10224 Town Hall by 157 pieces. Remarkably, it rings in just £20 more expensive than that set despite arriving nine years later, speaking to the consistently strong value the Modular Buildings Collection has offered over its run. But 10278 Police Station doesn’t attempt to match Town Hall’s height. Instead, it’s comfortable to settle for just 37cm at its tip – still a good deal taller than many of its companions – and pour its 2,923 parts into creating an exceptionally detailed and entertaining model, both inside and out.

1 – 10255 Assembly Square

As the only modular building that spans a 32×48-stud footprint – compared to the usual dimensions of 32×32 – it’s perhaps no surprise that 10255 Assembly Square tops this list. But it’s testament to just how much the LEGO Group appreciates the success of this subtheme that it was willing to devote a whopping 4,002 pieces to a set celebrating its 10th anniversary, spreading full-sized buildings out over both of its baseplates. It’s the biggest and undoubtedly one of the best modular buildings to date, but might not be around for long, so jump on it while you can.

10278 Police Station will launch on January 1, 2021. You can read our in-depth review here. Plus, don’t forget to check out five of its best techniques, and how it stacks up next to its fellow buildings.

To support the work of Brick Fanatics, please buy your LEGO sets from LEGO.com using our affiliate links.

Author Profile

Chris Wharfe
I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

Chris Wharfe

I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

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