I am Ben, one of four Brothers who grew up on the West coast of Wales. Together with their help we bring you the Brickle, the Small Brickle, and the accompanying shelves and stools you see on these pages.

As a child my brothers and I used to have LEGO crazes where all we’d do for days on end was build. Castles, cities, spaces stations and things none of us could quite put our fingers on flowed from our collective imaginations. Then we’d have a week off and start all over again. 

Years later, when my own children started playing with LEGO I noticed something had changed. They still built the kits but it often stopped there, the finished models finding their way to shelves to gather dust.

Why was their attitude to LEGO different and how could I help them enjoy the same creative side of LEGO that fuelled the childhoods of my brothers and I? Childhood experiences that perhaps contributed to our pursuing creative fields later in life.

When I asked them, it turned out part of the reticence about breaking up finished models was that they’d lose parts and not be able to recreate them. That gave me an idea. If we came up with a way to store their LEGO so that nothing would go missing, but also made it easier to find pieces, would that change the way they played? 

At times like this having a brother who builds yachts for a living really helps! Matt’s huge workshop and ready supply of materials meant we could build a cheap and cheerful MDF prototype in a couple of afternoons.

Despite its rudimentary quality, we found that by drilling carefully measured holes in the bottoms of its drawers it could do more than just keep LEGO safe; it could sort it by size, so when the girls wanted to build something they could find just the part they were looking for in seconds rather than minutes.

The magic was that it worked. I saw my girls slowly starting to break up their dusty kits and build original creations, the LEGO table eventually starting to compete with the kitchen table for the title of ‘Heart of the Home’.

It all changed though when friends came over and saw our children’s runaway LEGO creations. Some asked where they could also get one, and that started the germ of an idea…

Fourteen prototypes later and the MDF has been banished, the filter system perfected, drawer runners sourced, and Brickle as you see it now was born.  

It’s a piece of furniture we’re really proud of, and it’s built to last a lifetime. We hope it brings your family as much shared joy in LEGO construction as it has ours.