BDP11: Bouquet Boutique
Posted by Huw,
Crowd support for BrickLink Designer Program series 11 is underway and among its entries is the Bouquet Boutique, designed by fourstud:
Hello everyone! I’ve returned again to share my newest entry into Series 11 of BrickLink Designer Program, the Bouquet Boutique.
This time around, I wanted to design a smaller entry under 1000 pieces. I feel BDP needs some smaller winners and wanted to see what I could come up with. I was surprised that this concept, a city-based flower kiosk, had not been done before in the last 10 series of the programme.
The Build
Bouquet Boutique sits on a 16x32 base made up entirely of masonry bricks. There’s a big tree housing some pigeons who have stolen some sunflower seeds, and a bench for civilians to rest on. The boutique itself is black with accents of sand green, with some awnings on the side.
Decorating the outside are many flowers for sale, including sunflowers, hyacinths, roses, carnations, tulips, marigolds, and more. There is also a sign with a decoration I drew up showing a sale going on. The roof has large curved windows and is removable for interior access.
Inside the shop are shelves with small potted plants illuminated by spotlights above, and a table with a display selling seed packets. The checkout counter is built sideways with a turnable POS system. Behind the boutique is a prep table and shelves holding a sprayer, a watering can, and scissors to cut stems.
I always try to include some form of storytelling in my models, so in this one I included a couple on a walk by the stand. They sit on the bench and he proposes to her with a new rose bouquet, purchased from the boutique! Happy endings for all.
The dimensions for this model are:
- 11.4 in x 6.1 in x 8.1 in
- 29.1 cm x 15.4 cm x 20.6 cm
Development
I did not make any concept artwork for this model and worked off some reference images from Pinterest. The final result is essentially what I had envisioned. These kiosks aren't very big in real life.
Something I wanted to try this time was building most of the model on its side. The base is built vertically and then rotated on its side, and all the walls use SNOT bricks or are plates secured in the base, even the checkout counter. The awnings are placed upside down and the walls are attached with a couple layers of plates that attach to the removable roof. I tried a few rooftops, and settled on one inspired by botanical gardens which felt fitting. The whole build uses curvature for a friendlier appearance.
I had a lot of fun coming up with different flower and vase builds. This actually isn’t even the first time I’ve designed a flower shop. With the introduction of many new flower and foliage molds in the past few years, it's allowed me to make more realistic plants and I love it. I am also very happy with the logo I designed this time around!
Thanks again to Brickset for letting me showcase another build and its development. I hope you enjoyed the insight, and if you’d like to own this model, please lend it your 'Love it!' vote over on BrickLink until May 25th. Feel free to leave a comment as well.
If you wish to see more of my work, check out my Instagram profile here @ fourstud.
Thank you for stopping by!
69 likes
14 comments on this article
Lovely, I don't understand how you did the cornered edge of the black bench?
EDIT: Is it a 2x2 round corner attached only with one stud?
I really love the flower builds, which is remarkable considering I don't have a particular interest in the subject, and I also find the 'flower industry' as a whole problematic (but that's besides the point).
All in all a really great looking vignette piece, although I can imagine a lot of people want to incorporate this into their LEGO cities, so maybe a regular baseplate or simple plates would've been better for some. I appreciate the unique look, though.
This is Botanicals detail level at Minifigure scale, love everything about it! Excellent design overall!
You'll get my vote/support for sure, this would be (and hopefully will be) the first BDP set I want to buy instantly.
"The Bouquet residence - the lady of the house speaking."
Lovely little set!
Just beautiful! Very hard to make something so attractive and appealing at a small scale without making it feel cramped. Seriously hope this is chosen!
The ring box is so clever!!!!
Just excellent; I really struggle with all of these small details when I do my own designs, all of my MOC's in my town are quite large builds without intricate details but this would fit in superbly - I love the flower types, the building itself, the method of creating the baseplate and the realism - it reminds me of the flower stalls in La Rambla, Palma de Majorca - there are lots of small stalls in the centre tree lined area between the 2 carriageways (no doubt similar in may other cities too!)
That's nice! A set that would not break the bank; but more importantly, this will add a splash a colour anywhere it is placed and would not feel out of place in any Lego city environment. My only minor nitpick: I had a hard time figuring that the girl was a girl - that can be easily fixed by changing the hair.
I did not see it at first but it should be fairly easy to reverse the stud direction in the baseplate so as to have rounded corners on all sides. This would also eliminate the back plates on the other side of the model. Very nice model!
Is the lanyard repurposed to be an employee badge?
@HOBBES said:
"….That's nice! A set that would not break the bank;…"
LEGO Pricing: $119.99
Great use of those curved window pieces for the roof.
@yellowcastle said:
" @HOBBES said:
"….That's nice! A set that would not break the bank;…"
LEGO Pricing: $119.99"
Actually, $69.57 for 809 pieces using the average Brlcklink Designer Program price per piece since 2021 of $0.086/piece. That's a little high for the size, so I'd echo the encouragement of other comments to simplify the base to match typical City baseplates. That may lower the cost slightly.
It's a great model with a nice selection of flowers on offer. Finally, Botanical Collection for minifigures!