British designer Thomas Heatherwick is creating a 21-metre-high sculpture named Tree of Trees at Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend celebrations.
Set to be erected in front of the Buckingham Palace, the Queen's London residence, the sculpture will contain 350 types of trees found in Britain supported on a tree-like form.
The Tree of Trees will be unveiled as part of the official celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee from 2-5 June, which marks 70 years of her reign.
Shaped like a giant tree, the 21-metre-high sculpture will rise above the railings and gates in front of the palace.
Its central structure will be made from steel, from which a series of steel branches will extend to support 350 aluminium pots containing the trees.
The installation aims to draw attention to a program of planting initiatives called the Queen's Green Canopy, which has seen over a million trees planted from October 2021 to March 2022.
Tree of Trees is currently under construction ahead of its unveiling later this year.
"The structure, created from 350 British native trees and recycled steel, is coming together from workshops and nurseries across the country as one part of an incredible community campaign that's literally changing the landscape of our nation," explained Heatherwick.
Following the Jubilee weekend celebrations, the sculpture will be dismantled and the trees stored until the October planting season when they will be donated to community groups.
Heatherwick is the founder of London-based Heatherwick Studio. The studio has previously created a series of buildings that incorporate greenery, most recently at the 1,000 Trees project in Shanghai.
Previously in London, Heatherwick proposed creating a tree-covered bridge across the river Thames, which was called the Garden Bridge. Following several investigations, the project was scrapped in 2017.
The visualisation is by PicturePlane for Heatherwick Studio.
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