Finally!

In December 2022, the Bricklink Designer Program was officially announced. I made it my goal to contribute something to the world of Castle/Medieval that had not been done before. I came up with the Medieval Stonemasons Guild: a guild of stonemasons busy at work building an inspiring and grand gothic cathedral.

Now in 2026, nearly 4 years later, 11 rounds of BDP, 28 minifigure years*, and ~8.5-ish versions of the cathedral later, our friendly stonemasons have completed the cathedral.

It is a large build! Coming in at the maximum 4000 piece part count. As the cathedral has grown closer to completion in each successive round of BDP, the stonemasons have had to innovate how to continue completing the structure within the part allowance. The building has been re-scaled several times, building techniques have been streamlined, details have changed by necessity, all with the ambition of completing the goal.

The interior is relatively complete (these buildings were never really "done"), but it is accessible and functional, though simple. 90% of the emphasis and detailing has been given to the exterior. The goal has been to create a centerpiece for many medieval towns and villages. Villagers gather, economies grow, cities spread out, and they all center on the cathedral: the heart of the medieval world.

The cathedral is scaled to the Medieval Town Square, and also works well with Lion Knights Castle. I will have size comparison renders on IG, Flickr, and elsewhere (as BDP rules don't allow me posting them here).

The style is still a blend of French Gothic and English Gothic. It also draws some inspiration from Romanesque and Norman structures, specifically because the rounded arch is a much more common element in LEGO (compared to the pointed Gothic arch). This rounded arch associates the building with these pre-Gothic styles. Historically, this would have been accurate, as a cathedral was built and improved across multiple generations and styles. Similarly, the new south tower is the most ornate and detailed part of the build. Again, this speaks to historical accuracy, as later time periods supported more refined stone (brick) work.

This cathedral is a symbol to me of my own design journey. My design skills have improved significantly since BDP 1, as can be seen across the successive builds. In some ways I suppose the build can also be representative of BDP itself, continuing ever onward and growing ever upwards.

If chosen as a finalist I'm sure I'll make a few more improvements during the build refinement year. A structure of this size and complexity must be amply tested before it can be released.

I hope you have enjoyed being on this journey with me. Three cheers for these hard working little stonemasons, hip hip!

_____

*Supposedly 1 human year = 7 minifig years, according to some AI / LLM