Repurposed steel provides centrepiece for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

A spectacular 21m-tall steel sculpture, known as the ‘Tree of Trees’ featuring 350 British native trees was unveiled outside Buckingham Palace as a centrepiece of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the sculpture is said to reflect the joyful jubilee tree planting, which has swept the nation as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy, inspiring over a million trees to be planted.

Materials were sourced wherever possible from local suppliers within the UK to minimise transportation, energy use and waste. Cleveland Steel & Tubes supplied old surplus steel for the sculpture, thereby keeping the level of embodied carbon to a minimum.

Attached to the steel sculpture, the native trees are sat in aluminium pots embossed with Her Majesty’s cypher. After the celebrations, the trees will be gifted to selected community groups and organisations.

Thomas Heatherwick said: “This sculpture acts like a beacon sending one simple, eternal message that trees are the super-heroes of our towns and cities and matter much more to our lives than we realise. It’s been made by a team of welders, arborists, designers and fabricators from right across the country, all of us playing a part in this huge community campaign that’s literally transforming the landscape and proudly honouring The Queen.”