Architecture

Trafalgar Square

A tiny slice of London that hides some genuinely brilliant brick trickery.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 21045 · 2019

Pieces1,197

Minifigsn/a

Year2019

Set number21045

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The verdict

This one is quieter than the big Architecture skylines, and it took me a beat to appreciate it.

Once you clock the fountains, the lions, and Nelson perched up on his column, it clicks into a proper little scene rather than one lone building. It's clever more than showy, so if you love spotting a smart technique you'll grin at this set. If you want a bold sculptural centerpiece, it might read as a bit busy and low.

Best for: London lovers and technique nerds who like a clever microscale scene

The full review

What it is

Trafalgar Square is one of those LEGO® sets that doesn't grab you from the box art, and then slowly wins you over on the shelf. Instead of one tall landmark, you're building a whole scene: the domed National Gallery across the back, Nelson's Column rising out of the middle, four bronze lions guarding the base, and the two famous fountains catching the light. It's the biggest London model the Architecture line had done up to 2019, and the ambition really is the setting, not a single building. Once it's assembled and you look down at it the way you'd actually look at the real square, the whole thing suddenly makes sense.

The catch

I'll be honest about the catch, because reviewers flagged it and I think they're right. The trees and the statues on the plinths sit right at the front, and they crowd the National Gallery so its lovely columned facade gets a bit lost behind them. Some people found the lions a little clumsy up close too. And because so much of the model is small tiles and plates laid flat, the build can feel more like careful paving than exciting engineering. It also sits low and wide, so on a shelf it reads as a diorama rather than a bold centerpiece the way the taller skylines do. None of this is a dealbreaker, but it's why this set lands as very good rather than essential.

Who it's for

So who's going to love it. If you have a soft spot for London, or you enjoy the microscale storytelling side of Architecture where a set is really a place, this is a happy afternoon and a charming display piece. If you're the kind of builder who lights up at a sneaky technique, you'll get more out of this than the piece count suggests. If you mainly want a dramatic, sculptural show-off model, you might find it too flat and too fussy, and one of the bigger skylines will serve you better. It retired at the end of 2021 and prices have crept up since, so if you spot one near the old retail figure, that's the moment to grab it.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build breaks into clear little jobs, which keeps it moving. You lay the base and the pale paving first, then work up the National Gallery with its row of columns and dome, then drop in Nelson's Column, the lions, the plinths, and the fountains to finish. A lot of it is precise tile and plate placement to get the paving and steps looking crisp, so it rewards a patient hour more than a fast one. It's not a hard build, but it is a detailed one, and the satisfaction comes from watching a recognizable place appear under your hands rather than from any single wow moment.

The real treats here are the techniques. This was the first official set to build half-plate-tall steps by stacking 1x2 panels on their sides, locked in place with a Technic brick using half pins, which is an old AFOL trick making its debut in a boxed set. There's another neat move where the redesigned minifig bracket (part 28974), the little clip normally used to hang gear off a minifig's back, becomes a half-plate window sill under the upper windows. Nelson himself is a tiny white nano-figure on top of the column, which is a fun touch. For 1,197 pieces at its original price, you're getting a big pile of small useful tiles plus a couple of tricks worth stealing for your own builds.

Fun facts

01It was the largest London-inspired set in the Architecture line when it launched in June 2019, at 1,197 pieces.
02This is the first official LEGO set to use stacked side-on panels to make steps just half a plate thick, a technique fans had traded for years.
03Admiral Nelson sits at the very top as a single white nano-figure, keeping the whole model in true microscale.
04It retired at the end of 2021, and sealed copies have since climbed above the original $79.99 retail price.