Bay Area residents and lifelong LEGO fans Sevy Swift and Athena Leong set a new world record for the fastest two-person build of the LEGO® Art World Map, pending verification from Guinness World Records. 

They completed the build in 4 hours, 59 minutes, and 50 seconds, surpassing the organization’s minimum record standard of 5 hours and 30 minutes. The attempt took place April 12 at Brick by Brick Toys in Hayward, where the duo assembled the set in front of a small crowd.

The LEGO® Art World Map, the highest piece-count set in the company’s history, contains 11,695 pieces. It is primarily composed of 1×1 round stud pieces placed onto 16×16 stud plates, with 40 plates connecting to form a mosaic-style world map measuring 40.5 inches wide and 25.5 inches high.

Swift and Leong, who both work for technology startups in San Francisco, love to build LEGO sets in their spare time. Leong first proposed the record attempt last December, describing it as a “fun side quest.” 

“I looked at it and thought, ‘Oh, these timings seem to be achievable,’” she said. “I immediately thought of Sevy because he’s the other big LEGO fan I know, and within 10 minutes, we had an application submitted.” 

Swift shared a similar reaction.

“She texts me and I’m like, ‘This is the best idea I’ve ever heard in my life,’” he added. 

In the days leading up to the attempt, the duo practiced extensively by dismantling and rebuilding the set while refining their strategy.

“We’ve been practicing for the last month, but really the last week has been most of it,” Swift said.

Leong added, “We did practice, and while we were practicing, the strategy got better and better. It was a week of intense scrapping. Every night we spent three hours building it.”

On a rainy Sunday afternoon, the pair began their attempt. They settled into their chairs, put on their headphones, and began building as soon as the timer started.

They completed the build in just under five hours, a feat they almost thought wouldn’t be possible.

“I feel good! We got sub-five hours; I was not expecting that. We were not getting good times [initially] because we needed 15 minutes per plate. At the beginning we were not quite there, but we got there,” Swift said.

Both builders credit their success to strategy.

“We realized one color at a time actually speeds you up a lot because the colors are already there for you to use,” Swift said. “And then getting the right order for building. At the end you want the most amount of pieces in color because then you can just slap them in all the holes.”

Mike Marinakis, co-owner of Brick by Brick Toys, said he was very proud of Swift and Leong, and expressed gratitude for them wanting to host the event in his store. 

“It’s pretty cool and not something I would have expected,” Marinakis said. “They clearly put a ton of time and effort into prepping for it.”

Marinakis noted that he had only recently met the pair.

“This is the first time I met them. I got an email from Athena just a week ago, and they’re awesome people,” he added.

Official verification from Guinness World Records may take up to 12 weeks. In the meantime, Swift and Leong remain optimistic. As it turns out, everything is cool when you’re part of a team — even setting world records. 

“We really hope Guinness sees everything and that we checked all the boxes because we spent a lot of time making sure that we got everything right and followed all the rules to the letter,” Swift said. 

Leong added that they are already thinking of their next project.

“I think it’s onto the next side quest, maybe not another world record, but still something fun,” she said.