Student rower builds university boathouse in Lego

A University of Cambridge student has spent "countless hours" designing and building a Lego scale model of the oldest wooden-framed boathouse on the River Cam.

Keen rower Jim Gleed, 19, from Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, used about 10,000 bricks to recreate Christ's College's boathouse.

His 1:42 scale model is 100cm (39in) x 80cm (31in) and includes a detailed interior, rowing crews and even the dog which belongs to the head coach.

Gleed said: "I wanted to celebrate a building that means a lot to many students using a hobby I've had since childhood."

He said he used a combination of the Lego digital design tool, trial and error, and help from friends.

Gleed said the most challenging part of the project was creating rowing machines using tiny pieces of Lego.

The education student started rowing for Newark Rowing Club in 2020 and now rows at Cambridge.

"The boathouse is such an iconic part of my college life, I spend almost as much time there as I do in my bedroom," he said.

"The brick-by-brick building process changed how I see the real thing as I now pick up each small detail I previously walked past hundreds of times."

Gleed said he hoped his model would be used to raise the profile of rowing and of Christ's College Boathouse which was built in 1887.

The boathouse was renovated in 2017-18 and named the Blyth-McGregor Boathouse.

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