Lego Bow building replica purchased for lobby of The Bow

The Lego scale replica of the Bow office tower is now permanently displayed where most Calgarians can likely agree it belongs: in the lobby of The Bow.

Building owners H&R REIT purchased the lego structure, which is made up of 8,500 pieces, after artist Roy Nelson posted it for sale on Facebook Marketplace.

The Calgary artist, who spent several years on the project, is happy his artwork has found a home.

"Normally, you have a creation, you build it, you might have it around for a few years, you display it at a number of shows and then you take it apart and build something else," Nelson said. "I couldn't do this with this model. It was just too hard, the thought of stripping that down, and I didn't have a plan to build another building out of the pieces anyways."

The structure was purchased for $4,000 in December.

From now on, Lego Bow will sit behind an enclosed glass case for the public to enjoy.

"My hope was it would end up in the corner on some table in someone's office," Nelson said. "The fact that it's available to the public for other people to to look at, to come by and check out, and then just the the quality of the room and the background and everything, has just been wonderful."

Back in December, when Nelson listed the piece for sale, he told CBC the materials alone were worth $2,200. But clearly, it wasn't about the budget. This was a labour of love, and a challenge.

"It really was the challenge. You lock on to a plan, an idea, and you keep trying," he said.

"There was that initial challenge of the design and prototyping, and then 'How many pieces do I need?' And calculating how many one-by-two plates I need to build the thing and finish it off."

Nelson, an analyst with the Calgary Fire Department, is part of an adult Lego-building group that focuses on landmark Calgary buildings. He said he was inspired by the challenge of The Bow tower's crescent shape.

He is also a member of the Southern Alberta Lego Users Group and the Calgary Lego Train Club.

Nelson said one of the hardest things was translating the dimensions of a real building into Lego dimensions, and then finding the perfect Lego pieces.

The Lego Bow was unveiled in the lobby of The Bow on Monday.