2026's modular building has LEGO lore woven into every brick

The LEGO Modular Buildings Collection is an enduring line of sets with a rich history – but none more so than 2026's 11371 Shopping Street.

With one release a year, the LEGO Modular Buildings Collection has steadily built up a deep lore, both in the LEGO world that has sprung up around it and in connections between pieces and elements that have appeared over time. The collection's creator, Jamie Berard, complimented the next entry's designer, Hoang Huy Dang, for his deep knowledge about modular buildings in a recent video featuring the central figures behind 11371 Shopping Street.

"[Hoang] knows the modular buildings from the past, so he knows that [the music shop] can tie into the music theme we've had earlier in the street," said Jamie. "Then he starts to talk about his own family, and this is the best when people bring their own personal stories in."

Here's a closer look at some of the LEGO lore drops and connections that Hoang has woven into the upcoming modular building.

A modular building informed by those that came before

"Before we started with this project, we looked back at the history of the modular line," Hoang explained. "We look at all the different silhouettes that we have achieved before. Some of them are very symmetrical, but some have very different heights and shapes."

In the picture above, you can see how 11371 Shopping Street stands taller than 10350 Tudor Corner and 10326 Natural History Museum, for example. Even between those two sets, 10326 Natural History Museum stands much wider and straighter, while 10350 Tudor Corner features angled roofs and in-laid windows.

For 11371 Shopping Street, Hoang leaned into angles even further, saying: "We moved forward with an asymmetrical design. I thought it would be very interesting to mimic what we did with 10297 Boutique Hotel. It was actually one of my favourite models of recent years."

A love letter to Billund, home of the brick

It's not just the history of LEGO sets that feeds into 11371 Shopping Street, either, but also the real-world history of Billund, the home of LEGO.

"The music store where our characters come in to buy the musical instruments to join the marching band is a play on the LEGO Billund Marching Band," noted Hoang. "Billund is very famous for its marching band, so we wanted to have a story linked to that.

"We wanted to bring back the Billund crest, which you might have seen in 10224 Town Hall, so it appears again. This time, we put the Billund crest back on one of the minifigures' hats. If you know Billund, you will recognise that story quite well."

This musical presence also connects 11371 Shopping Street to previous modulars, as Jamie noted above, such as the singer and jazz musician seen in 10312 Jazz Club.

Potted history of LEGO chairs

The other business in 11371 Shopping Street is a carpenter's workshop, where the owner is flogging an old chair for sale via a poster on the wall. The sale doesn't seem to be working, however, as you can find the chair itself wedged in a dumpster around the back of the set.

"It is the classic LEGO chair, as you might know it from back in the day," explained LEGO graphic designer Ashwin Visser. "It's the one-element chair that all the minifigures can fit on – but it looks like the woodworker has stepped away from that type of design. She is now into more intricate chair designs."

"When you turn the model around, you can find that chair in the dumpster because they need to get rid of them," confirmed Hoang.

With so many different ways to build LEGO chairs appearing in both official sets and custom builds made by fans, Jamie sees the range of chairs included in the set as an in-joke between Hoang and the LEGO community at large.

"It's kind of a nice nod and a wink to LEGO fans who don't want to just use what's given to them," said Jamie. "They can't help themselves, but want to reimagine it and make it their own."

Quack quack

Last but certainly not least, the carpenter has also been working on a meta part of LEGO history.

"There is a hidden Easter egg in the carpenter's workshop," explained Hoang. "We played into LEGO history where the company started making wooden products, and you might find a very famous wooden duck inside her workshop that she's been working on for a long time."

Is the carpenter an in-universe founder of the LEGO Group? Could she one day switch from wooden products to LEGO sets? With sets like 60500 The LEGO Van, such meta moves aren't impossible, but for now it's just a neat little Easter egg for fans of LEGO – a duck egg, if you will.

LEGO Icons 11371 Shopping Street will be available to buy from January 1, 2026, retailing at £229.99 / $249.99 / €249.99.

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