Tree of Trees: Sculpture of 350 Living to Celebrate Queen's Jubilee

Heatherwick Studio has designed a statue containing 350 trees to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. The sculpture is being erected outside Buckingham Palace in London, and the installation is nearing completion before it will be unveiled on June 2. Thomas Heatherwick of the Heatherwick Studio designed the 21-meter-tall tree statue to draw attention to the tree-planting campaign being launched to mark the 70th anniversary of the Queen's reign.

Tree of Trees installation by Heatherwick Studio.

The tree sculpture was unveiled as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend celebration, which will be displayed for two weeks. Studio Millimetre named this statue the Tree of Trees. This name was born while installing the tree sculpture structure. Seen by the naked eye, the 350 living trees that fill the structure of this sculpture are supported by branches made of strong steel.

Tree of Trees installation by Heatherwick Studio.

The branches and trunk that support this tree are made of central steel surrounded by stacked steel tubes that twist to form a tree trunk that progressively elongates to form branches on the upper tier. The live trees used to fill the structure are a variety of tree species found throughout the UK, and the live trees are placed in aluminum pots and will be maintained using an integrated irrigation system during the two weeks on display.

Tree of Trees installation by Heatherwick Studio.

After two weeks of being featured in the Jubilee celebrations, the structure will be dismantled. The living trees will be returned to the storage before being donated to community groups across the UK for planting in October when the fall season. The original purpose of this Tree of Trees statue was to draw attention to a tree-planting program called Queen's Green Canopy to encourage tree planting. The impact of this campaign is felt because, since October 2021, it has been recorded that more than one million trees have been planted in the UK through this program.

Tree of Trees installation by Heatherwick Studio.