A Winnipeg teenager is being recognized for his design and building skills after he spent half his summer break tediously working with Lego.

Javon Havelka, 15, says he has loved building with Lego ever since his mom bought some used bricks online when he was four years old. That love is starting to earn him some recognition, including an impressive finish in a large competition.

The grade 10 student recently entered a contest put on by well-known Lego builder and content created, TD Bricks. "He put on a competition and I thought it might be a good chance to show off my Lego skills," Havelka says. The contest was for anyone under 18 and had over 1,000 entrants. He took home ninth place after spending a month building his project.

His project was a Japanese-themed one and was something he had already been thinking about for a while.

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"I split it up into three different sections," he says. Using lots of influences from nature, his first section was a Japanese-style garden. Then he built a Japanese market, complete with food in the market, and then built a large building and sidewalk which features a dojo, restaurant, and more. Altogether the project is over two feet long and almost a foot deep.

Focus doesn't seem to be a problem for the teen, as he spent a month working on the project, but that's actually a fast project for him. "It was definitely a grind because most of my builds around this size probably take me more than three months." He says the tight timeline meant he couldn't problem solve as much as he usually does and had to just push forward. There were days when he spent up to six hours working on the project to get it done in time.

His love for Lego could lead to future career moves, as well. "I've always said I don't know exactly what type of job I want to do, but as long as it's testing my creativity then that sounds good to me."

Havelka  also assures that he doesn't leave Lego pieces lying around for mom and dad to step on. You can follow his Lego builds on Instagram at @jovo_lego.