AMY & ADAM ‘WE BUILT A HAPPY HOME!’
It’s said that having a shared hobby is good for a couple, but Lego lovers Adam and Amy Richards have taken their passion to the next level, dedicating a spare room of their Christchurch home to the bricks and even visiting Legoland in England on their honeymoon!
For Adam, the fascination started as a pre-schooler and he still remembers his teenage outrage when he didn’t get more blocks one Christmas. Later, as an adult, he’d just started dating Amy when his parents gave him back his childhood Lego and he enjoyed building large creations, which Amy found therapeutic to dismantle.
“We have really different skill sets,” says Amy, 38. “I trained for Lego Masters by focusing on stuff that Adam doesn’t typically do, so we’re very good at dividing and conquering. Adam’s quite a creative person who can dream up things that don’t already exist, while I need a diagram if I’m going to make it – I don’t do fantasy creatures!”
When asked who takes instructions better, Adam, 41, laughs and says neither of them do. However, Amy insists, “In life, I’m the boss. But in Lego, we’re both quite headstrong about what we want.”
The pair spent Mother’s Day building in their spare room after their sons Lincoln, seven, and Elliott, six, gave her two sets of Lego flowers. They love the quality family time the bricks give them, even if the boys tire of it long before they do – they’re more excited about seeing their parents on TV!
“A lot of the stuff I build nowadays is for the boys – they’ll give me a little Lego person and tell me to make a robot who’s a pilot who fights people,” says Adam. “I made one of them a polar bear the other day and he said, ‘That’s awesome, but can you make it a battle polar bear?’ So now it’s covered in armour and weapons.”
The couple are busy planning a big build for the upcoming Christchurch Brick Show, where all the contestants will reunite to show off their skills. Their spare time is spent playing frisbee golf.
“It’s good to have a hobby that gives you a bit of fresh air and exercise,” Adam notes. “Otherwise we would probably be very pale and overweight!”