b'Lit by Gilded Absencethe Memorial Design ConceptIn 2014, Walter Jack Studio was appointed to design the UK Police Memorial, along with constructionWalter Jack Charlotte Rathbone Simon Holdenpartners SH Structures LimitedWALTER JACK STUDIO RATHBONE PARTNERSHIP S H STRUCTURES LTDand landscape partners, Rathbone Partnership. The process began with extensive consultations with the police family where a clear vision emerged for the Memorial: a calm and powerful place for individuals; a place for ceremony and remembrance; a place for tribute and commemoration.The landscape embraces the Celtic spiritual concept of a thin place, where we step from one world to the next. Contrasts in light and shade, the wild and the controlled, add to the experience of a serene yet powerful space. Raised edges to a circular glade surrounded by a bold and simple ring of trees, embrace visitors, imparting a sense of protection, as the police protect us. The glade itself is edged by the wilder, more natural wooded part of the Arboretum.Descriptive text and a Sillitoe Tartan evoking the police uniform, edge the path leading to the Memorial and a tall doorway supporting a brass screen. The portal represents the threshold to the dangerous places where the police must go. Leaf-shaped apertures cut from the Memorial represent service, sacrifice and lives lost. The brass will weather while the gilt edges remain bright, and as the sun shines, the site is lit by this gilded absence. 08 09'