The LEGO Architecture London set is part of the LEGO Skylines line that was released in 2017. It includes  iconic landmarks that can be found in Great Britain's capital city such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Nelson’s Column, and the National Gallery.

Let's look at the details of this set:

Box and Instructions

The set comes in the same box that LEGO uses for all its Architecture sets. The packaging has a sleek black design that houses the model and the instruction manual. The 120-page manual, which has the same paper quality as most LEGO kits, includes photos of the featured structures, interesting facts about the buildings, and historical information about the real-life structure.

Parts

The LEGO Architecture London set contains 468 parts, plus a few printed parts. You will find that most of the parts are small and common, although there are rare parts that are of particular interest in this model. An example of which is part 6175701 that has a clock face printing on one side. Part 174611 is another interesting part that has a London print.

Individual structures

The National Gallery

This model represents the actual building quite well, with vertically aligned grills that give an impression of the actual columns that can be seen on the facade of the real-life structure. The top of the model uses an inverted 2x2 round piece to recreate the dome on top of the National Gallery and make it more recognizable among the other iconic landmarks in the set.

Nelson's Column

Placed in front of the National Gallery model, the scale of Nelson's Column matches with the structure behind it, and make for a great addition to the set. This is the smallest build in the set, with only 13 pieces. It has a white statuette on top that represents Admiral Horatio Nelson, to whom the real-life monument was dedicated. The fountain elements on the bottom of this model adds blue color accents to the left side of the set.

Big Ben

The Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) model gets its own printed piece, which is a clock that helps it to be recognizable as the famous clock tower in London. The tower uses 1×2 bricks with Grille instead of 2x2 angle plates that would have given the structure a more protruded shape. This model gets only a single clock face in front, which may be a disappointment for LEGO fans who love seeing all four sides printed. Overall, Big Ben is a great focal point for the whole set, but lacks depth around the clock face.

Tower Bridge

The Tower Bridge structure is a nicely built model that features some interesting details such as the cables along the sides, headlight bricks, and arches. This is the most complex model to build in the set because of the various types of connections and pieces that need to be put together.

The drawbridges can be operated up and down to accommodate boats that are passing through the bridge. LEGO used medium blue as the accent color for the suspension cables and for  the elevated pedestrian walkway to give the whole model a break from monotonous colors.

The details on this model are impressive, to say the least. We have the main tower that is built using 1×1 headlight bricks, suspension cables that are built with two brand new colored parts, and other architectural details built from different modified plates with teeth.

The London Eye

The London Eye dominates the background as it accurately depicts the real-life structure due to its size and the intricate details that went into designing the model. It blends well into the London Skyline as it appears to be towering over the other structures included in the set. The wheel is built using two pairs of rigid hose with each viewing pod clipped along the length. The pairs are then attached to the top and at the base using two wishbone suspension arms.

Final thoughts

There' so much to love about this set. From the choice of iconic landmarks to the great design and the inclusion of some rare pieces that benefit the overall appearance of the set. Another great thing about this set is how the structures are designed to complement the size and placement of each landmark. You also get to learn some fun facts about the structures, when they were built, and why they were constructed in the first place. The colors are also well-chosen and represent the original structures quite accurately.

We also like that three of the landmarks are on the Thames River, but feel like the river is better represented with transparent blue tiles rather than black plates topped with transparent tiles.

Overall, this set will appeal to any LEGO fan or to  individuals who enjoy London's architectural wonders. The subtle colour accents and shapes work well together, making this set a great display piece for the home or office.