Competition entry for the 2005 international competition for a memorial to the British troops felled in around 50 armed engagements since the Second World War, at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Our response was intended to be powerful but fluid, not unlike our historic military strategies, providing a robust monument which would also be meaningfully and memorably shaped by any forthcoming additions.

Our proposal was symbolically shaped of glass, granite and lead columns, amongst a linear field of 250 x 400mm granite slabs, the same dimension as the columns in plan. Each individual column was to have been tripartite, representing the navy, army and air forces lost in each conflict with cast glass, granite and clear glass respectively. The individual scale and threefold ratio of each column is defined to respect the columns around it, to form continuous and unfinished horizontal trajectories as illustrated. Lead ribbons imprinted with individual soldiers names vertically strafe the tripartite columns.

In contrast, Liam O’Connor’s successful scheme was worthy of Arlington itself, and can be found here.