The RYBRIX Belfast Gantry Crane is a 517-piece buildable brick model based on the iconic Harland & Wolff cranes.
It’s suitable for ages 7+ and is designed to be built and displayed once finished. It’s not just something for visitors either, it’s a great hands-on activity for kids, encouraging problem-solving, concentration, creativity, fine motor skills and spatial awareness while giving them something to do away from a screen.
For parents, it’s a great alternative to simply buying another electronic toy, and it can also be something they can build together with their children. The hands-on nature of construction play is well recognised as supporting areas of children’s development including cognitive and spatial skills, problem-solving and creativity.
And at the end of it, they have a model of one of Belfast’s most recognisable landmarks to keep and display, a little piece of Belfast to be proud of.
RYBRIX is a small Belfast business based in the Titanic Quarter. We’re actually surrounded by the cranes every day, so they’ve always been a big part of the area for us.
The idea for RYBRIX came from looking at the crane and thinking it would make a great buildable brick model. We built several different versions and prototypes, changing and improving the design each time until we were happy with the final product and had something that was properly shelf-ready.
I’ve also had the opportunity to go up and have a tour of one of the cranes, so it’s been great seeing the real thing up close and then trying to recreate it as a brick model.
The Belfast Gantry Crane is our first RYBRIX model, and we’re already developing several more models based around Belfast and other well-known Northern Irish landmarks.
