u/EastEndBricks

Next up in my Brick Lane Stories is Em’s Grocers, the little traditional grocery shop underneath one of the railway arches.

Emma has the day off, so she’s popped in to visit her dad at the shop — along with his best mate, a rather well-looked-after plant 🪴😂

I wanted the shop to feel properly crammed-in and lived-in, with fruit and veg outside, shelves of jars and groceries, bread and cakes, a counter, till and all the other little bits you’d expect to find inside.

Like the skate shop, there’s quite a lot hidden in here that I didn’t manage to show properly in my original BDP renders, so I’ve been experimenting with some closer interior shots.

Brick Lane is currently in Crowd Support for BrickLink Designer Program 2028 Wave 1. If you like it, please consider voting here:

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/2028-wave-1/5403/Brick-Lane

I thought I’d start sharing some of the little stories and details hidden around my Brick Lane design during BDP Crowd Support.

One of my favourite parts is the skate shop underneath the railway arches.

I grew up in East London and spent a lot of time in the 2000s travelling into London to skateboard and visit skate shops, so when I started designing Brick Lane I knew I wanted to include a little independent skate shop.

I tried to cram in the sort of stuff I remember from those shops — decks covering the walls, wheels and accessories, clothing, a counter and till, and generally far too much stuff squeezed into a small space 😂
There’s also a skater and snowboarder browsing inside, with the skater making another appearance outside the shop.

I didn’t manage to show the interiors particularly well in my original BrickLink submission. I was rushing to finish everything before the deadline and rendering on my MacBook Air takes forever 😂

I’ve been experimenting with brighter renders since then. They’re still a long way off what I’d like them to be, but I think I’m probably going to need a better computer before my next submission! Hopefully these at least show some of the details hiding inside a bit better.

Brick Lane is currently in Crowd Support for BrickLink Designer Program 2028 Wave 1. If you like it, please consider voting here:

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/2028-wave-1/5403/Brick-Lane