A multimedia arts project has been chosen by public vote to transform preserved wood from the felled Sycamore Gap tree into a 'living archive'. The community arts charity Helix Arts and George King Architects won the National Trust commission on Saturday, with their proposal 'The People's Tree'. The project will commemorate the much-loved sycamore through participatory storytelling, sound and sculpture.
The commission was announced in September 2025, two years after the illegal felling of the tree beside Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. The winning design received the highest combined score from the public vote and a judging panel, who praised its strong national resonance and local sensitivity. Instead of a single static memorial, the project features several interactive strands.
One strand invites people from Northumberland and across the UK to contribute recordings of their reflections on relationships with trees and nature, forming a national sound archive. Parts of the preserved tree will be used to make 'seed pods' to store these digital recordings. Other sections will create a soundscape by translating the tree's growth rings into audio.
Additional pieces of seasoned wood will be co-created into artworks with communities and local artists, leading to exhibitions and workshops across the UK. A website will allow international participation. A combined sound sculpture and time capsule near Sycamore Gap will protect a large section of the felled tree, with its own audio archive for visitors. Its precise location will be chosen with local input.
Cheryl Gavin, director of Helix Arts, said the idea responded to loss through participation rather than monument-making alone, working with diverse communities including those without access to nature. The commission, starting public engagement this summer and completing by autumn 2027, includes planting 49 'trees of hope' saplings across the UK. The National Trust confirmed shoots from the stump for a third consecutive year.
