When most people walk into an office in the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, they expect to see case files, calendars and maybe a few family photos. But step into the workspace of Peter Kuhns, director of Facility and
Programs within Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and you’ll find something far more unexpected: a growing Lego city, complete with bustling storefronts, intricate modular buildings, and even a Lego version of van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” What started as a personal hobby has quietly become one of the most uplifting—and talked‑about—features in the building.
Like many of us, Kuhns built with Lego bricks as a child and his interest dissipated as he grew older. Fast forward to his birthday in 2015. He was working in adult correction and realized he was bringing lots of stress home from his job. Kuhns bought himself a Lego pirate ship set and built it.
“What I realized at the time was all of this stress that the work brought, all of it just went away, and it was this kind of wonderful place of peace,” he said. “The nice thing about the sets is that it tells you step-by-step what to do, so you don't really have to think about it a lot. You can just engage with the bricks and just build the set piece by piece.”
Each birthday after that, he bought a new set. Then COVID-19 hit. As the world looked for hobbies within their homes, so did Kuhns. He headed straight to Lego sets, and his collection grew from one set a year to four or five. Kuhns began to bring the sets into his office following the COVID pandemic.
“People get a kick out of the sets when I bring them into the office,” Kuhns said. “They really enjoy it. People set up the city (sets) in different ways. The Lego sets are a great conversation starter.”
He doesn’t proclaim to be a Lego expert, and he doesn’t enjoy freestyle building. After a long day at work, he enjoys following the instructions.
“I have 1,000 different things that I have to do at work,” Kuhns said. “I come home and it's nice to not have to think about anything. Building the sets is a mindfulness activity. It's an activity where I can sit down and just follow the instructions and not have to think.”
Kuhns also finds the Lego brick sets help remind him that he was a youth once and how important it is working with youth in custody.
“I think that it's important in Juvenile Justice to remember that we work with kids, and I think we’ve lost a lot of that,” Kuhns explained. “I think it's important to connect ourselves to things that are childlike, you know, toys and different things to remember what it's like to be a kid.”
