Designed by Harry Paticas of Arboreal Architecture, engineered by The Morton Partnership, and built by The Green Oak Carpentry Company, assisted by Solutions in Wood for Teak CNC work, this WWII memorial opened in 2018. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, inaugurated the tribute to the 173 victims of the largest civilian disaster of WWII – a tragic bombing raid incident on March 3, 1943, at an underground entrance. The memorial, titled ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ features plaques telling survivors’ stories. It’s constructed from 150mm square Java-grown FSC Teak sections, bonded with PRF adhesive and assembled off-site before installation. A bench made from Teak salvaged from the SS Pegu is also present. Engraved victim names in the ‘Bethnal Green’ script grace the Teak surface, and sunlit ‘light cones’ dapple the ground beneath. The project required meticulous effort from Harry Paticas and a decade of commitment.

Architect: The Morton Partnership