No Added Colours or Lemmings(Mayhem 20) uses the trick to turn around the lemming so that he can mine under the blocker. I think that's the first time you're required to use it
Strictly speaking it's not actually required:
Let 2 lemmings instead of 1 lemming get to the right of the blocker, then one can build while the other mines, no turnaround necessary for the builder. In fact the resulting multitasking even allows you to solve the level in under 1 minute.
That being said, the "typical" solution you alluded to is likely the one most people solved the level with. Or if nothing else, people who are in the process of working out a solution are likely to stumble onto the behavior when trying to build there.