Meet the maker …
Meet the LEGO
®
Designer
Kevin Feeser, Fan Designer
The person behind the original Treehouse design is Kevin Feeser, a hairdresser and huge LEGO
®
fan from France. Not just creative by profession, Kevin is an avid lover of design, architecture
and nature, all of which merges together in his awesome treehouse creation. Here is more
from the man himself …
“I’m passionate about nature, wildlife and wooden constructions. So the idea for the model
emerged during an unusual weekend with friends in Robinson Crusoe-style treehouses. The tree
trunk was the most difficult part of the model to get right, because it had to be robust enough to
support three shacks while using the least number of elements possible! Also, the shacks were a
challenge … there had to be a lot of details, and bridges and stairs between each hut, as well as
an overall round shape.
It took about two months (about 300 hours) to complete the model. I remodeled the whole proj-
ect six times (trunk, shacks, roofs, leaves, etc.) in designing my final creation. When I saw that I
had reached the magic 10,000 supporters in less than 4 months, I was very proud and really hap-
py! I always believed in my creation but didn’t expect it to reach the 10,000 supporters so quickly.”
To create a successful LEGO Ideas product idea:
“Be creative - check out what’s out there … and then do something entirely different.
Be inspired - put together a portfolio of real things (photos, drawings, etc.).
Be prepared - source the right elements, visit the LEGO Pick-a-Brick website, etc.
Finally, carefully read the LEGO Ideas rules. From my own experience, I misread the rules and I
had to remodel my whole design to use less than 3,000 LEGO elements!”
César Carvalhosa Soares
“I loved treehouses as a kid, and still dream of having one in my backyard one day. In fact, when I
applied to become a designer at the LEGO Group, my portfolio contained a couple of treehouse
builds. So ever since Kevin’s original treehouse submission got the required 10,000 supporters, I
was rooting for it to be picked and made as an official set. Having the opportunity to work on this
project was really special.
This project was different to my
previous work, which was mainly
on LEGO
®
Star Wars
™
, because
the build is so organic and there
was room for creative freedom.
My role was to pick up the original
submission and adapt and tweak
it to match the high quality stan-
dards of the LEGO brand. Things
like the stability of the model, the
overall aesthetics, the build flow
and playability of the model had
to be considered.
The most challenging part for
me was making the roofs remov-
able so that the cabins could be
accessed. The solution was to
create the entire last third of the
tree as one removable part.
Kevin came to Billund, so we had
the chance to collaborate closely
and discuss some points regard-
ing the treehouse design. This re-
ally helped create a set that would
meet both his expectations but
also the LEGO brand standards.
What I love about the treehouse is the bit of landscape with the little stream, the way that all the
cabins have different details and also the fact that there is no “back side” to the model. There is
almost the same amount of detail and intricacy from every angle that you look at. But the thing
that I’m really proud of is the fact that you can swap the colors of the leaves to match different
seasons with pieces from just one set. I suggested this option so I’m super happy that we could
make it happen.”
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