Former master Lego builder teaches kids his craft

Brad Charlton-Wells' passion for Lego started at a young age - as a child he would go to car boot sales with his mum and dad where they would buy boxes of bricks.

He was always building, but not necessarily from sets with instructions and an end goal in mind.

This was a love that he did not leave behind as he became an adult - and he eventually got a job at Lego, becoming a master builder. Over his career there, he got to build sets for people including Olivia Rodrigo and Romesh Ranganathan.

"I was building big models for some notable people," the 25 year-old from Staffordshire recalled.

"We had a partnership with the arena over in Birmingham so we did a lot of big builds for celebrities, so Olivia Rodrigo we did a lovely build for her, Romesh Ranganathan, Kings of Leon, Troye Sivan.

"[For Olivia] it was her in front of her Guts backdrop, promoting her Guts tour," he said.

He said much of what he built for people as a master builder was for promotion.

"People absolutely love it, it's the novelty of having themselves immortalised in brick," he added.

Across his career he has also built large mosaics, including a Phillips 66 sign and a number of community heritage builds with local councils.

"The Olivia Rodrigo build stands out," he said.

"It felt like a real milestone moment in my journey. That said, I'm just as proud of the community projects - seeing children recognise their own town or local identity recreated in bricks is hard to beat."

He said making large mosaics were challenging because they need "absolute precision" with colour placement and structure.

"Sculptural pieces are probably the toughest creatively, especially when you're trying to capture expression or movement using a very rigid medium," he added.

Now, he is passing those skills onto the younger generation through his own independent company, which he set up after leaving his role at Lego.

BrickLab, based in Stone, designs large-scale models, interactive installations and hosts educational workshops in schools.

Charlton-Wells is hosting a workshop in Cheadle on Saturday for children to learn how to build.

There are three sessions throughout the day at Guild Hall from 10:00 to 15:30 GMT.

"Parents often say they're surprised at how focused their children are during the sessions," he said.

"A lot of them mention that their child talks about it for days afterwards.

"The biggest thing I hear from children is that they feel proud of what they've made, especially because they get to take it home."

He said that building boosted young people's confidence and creativity.

"There's problem solving, patience and resilience involved," he said.

"When a child completes something they initially thought was difficult, you can see that shift in belief.

"That's what I love most about running the workshops."

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