Design Proposal
The conception of this proposal for the design of a Police Memorial in Canberra, ACT does not start from an aesthetic formula but is derived from the act of remembrance and reflection. It is intended that the space of the memorial will inform and focus these acts and events.
The memorial is oriented west-north-west to take advantage of a view corridor to the left of the Carillon as seen from the site. The memorial can be interpreted as a carpet cut into the hill, providing a flat surface on which are placed a grid of 24 blocks of different Australian stone. The blocks are 600 x 600 x 600mm placed 900mm apart from each other, the names of those officers who have died in the line of duty are engraved into the blocks.
The quiet order of the grid and repetitive forms allows and enhances the act of reflection and remembrance. The use of different Australian stones signifies the diversity of the members of the police force and the skills, tasks and qualities that are asked of them. To the east, the stone blocks are paired with a stand of native trees of the same number. This combination of stone and trees sets up a simple relationship of presence and absence, living and dead. The trees act as sentinels for the stones, representing an ongoing commitment to serve and protect. By concentrating on the physical qualities of the memorials surfaces the design aims to lend dignity to the act of remembrance by increasing one’s awareness of its physical characteristics.

Design Intent
The design has been driven by 2 statements found in the brief. The first is from Sir Max Bingham Q.C. where he observed that criminal law is the,

“ clearest possible application of the organised power of
a community”.

The memorial is a highly structured and ordered horizontal form, clearly and seamlessly integrated into the existing network of the park and the central national area. The grid described by the blocks and the planting is intended to be recognised as an ordered element. The design is quiet but confident creating an introverted environment where stillness prevails.

The proposed memorial design is intended to symbolise how the structured, organised police network is drawn from and is part of the community it serves and protects. This is achieved by weaving the boundaries of the memorial site into the parklands, the memorial appears to be extracted from the site, rather than an added to it. By moving the visitors through and amongst the stones and trees the memorial creates an act of remembrance that is enveloped by those whom we are remembering.

The second statement is from the message from the Prime Minister, John Howard,

“We all owe police officers a debt of gratitude for their unfailing commitment and courage. They are ordinary men and women who perform an extraordinary job
on our behalf”.

This statement is reflected in the design through the choice and application of the materials
of the memorial. By using concrete and stone, ordinary, everyday materials, we hope to gain the greatest possibility of achieving a renewed reality within the material condition of the memorial.
To make an extraordinary material special, is banal, to heighten one’s awareness of humble materials like concrete and stone, we feel is poetic.

Access and Use
The memorial has been carefully considered to create a distinct and unique place of reflection and contemplation, a place where visitors can honour, commemorate and acknowledge the sacrifice of those officers that have fallen in the line of duty.
The spacing of the blocks (with the names of the officers’ engraved on them), allows comfortable access between them for able-bodied visitors as well as those in wheel chairs, with strollers or the infirm.
The memorial has been designed to facilitate many different scales of events. A sense of enclosure and intimacy is emphasized by the possibility of being comfortable within the memorial as an individual visitor. From within the memorial, visitors are able to gaze inward, toward the blocks that contain the names, as well as to gaze out, towards the lake and the Brindabella Ranges from within the memorial. Small groups or several individual visitors will be able to move around the memorial or sit within or to the side of it without feeling crowded or overlooked. For larger, organized events it is envisaged that the blocks, and the stairs can be used as seats and there is room between the blocks to place seats. Benches have also been designed into the retaining walls on the north and south sides of the memorial, approximately 90 people can be seated comfortably within the memorial. Addresses can be made from the western end whilst participants face out
towards the lake and the Brindabella Ranges. The north side of the memorial has been terraced and planted to create shade for visitors and the areas immediately behind the retaining walls on both the north and south
sides have been mounded to allow for larger numbers of participants to look into the memorial and be part of an event.

Construction
The construction method for the memorial is cut and fill and slab on ground with pre-cast concrete retaining walls.
The proposed memorial construction area covers approximately 130 sq m with approximately 200 sq m of additional landscaping. The slab will be poured using local and recycled aggregate where possible, to provide a platform to lay the stone floor and mount the stone blocks on spigots. The pre-cast retaining walls are to be manufactured locally with local aggregate where possible. All exposed concrete is to be polished and sealed with a sacrificial protective coating. The stone blocks are to be sourced from Australian quarries and are to meet the design guidelines as set out in the Preventative
Conservation Guidelines for Artworks & Memorials. The intended detail and finish of all exposed edges and surfaces has been conceived to minimize the possibility of environmental and/ or intentional damage. All edges will be gently rounded or faceted to
prevent chipping and possible injury, all horizontal surfaces will be slightly raked to prevent water pooling and ingress and will be detailed to deter skateboarders. The materials have been chosen to meet a symbolic as well as environ- mental and constructional criteria, they are all materials that will last for centuries, are locally/ nationally sourced, require little maintenance and can all be
re-used if necessary. The design is intended to minimise the embodied energy of all materials used and strives to produce no waste that has to be removed from the site.

Lighting
The lighting strategy has been conceived to strengthen and enhance the form and material and textural qualities of the memorial whilst minimising maintenance liabilities and costs. The blocks are to be lit from underneath, the light will be reflected from the underside of the stone blocks and spill over the ground, the blocks will appear to float above the ground. It is proposed that subtly different colour lights be used for the blocks, emphasising the different types of stone. The light will be sufficient to read the names of the officers on the blocks and to safely light the ground for use at night without causing light pollution or competing
with lighting of the Carillon. At night, the floating blocks of the memorial will be visible from the Kings Avenue Bridge.

Signage Typography & Approach
The typographic approach that has been adopted for the graphic components of the memorial is demonstrated by the name text engraved in the blocks, the memorial title and interpretive text inlaid into the main concrete block on the western end of the site and with the directional signage.
It is envisaged that the names of police officers will be etched onto the polished surface of the stone blocks. This technique allows new names to be added easily on site and is resistant to weathering. It also allows for easy repair in case of any defacing, the stone surface is re-polished and
the names etched back on. The surface area of the blocks allows for approximately 2000 names. The interpretive text and police force insignias on the large block are not envisaged to need to be altered so are proposed as bronze inlay, pinned and chemically anchored flush in to the surface of the polished concrete.
The font envisaged is a serifed one that is elegant yet substantial enough to work in stone, (such as Sabon, the font used for this presentation). The font is both user-friendly in its function and friendly in tone. Apart from serving to provide legibility for a range of age groups, it should also serve to reinforce the notion that police are ordinary men and women. It is intended that the italic version of the font family would be used for the names of the police officers as it suggests a more personal tone, while a more
formal roman version would be used to convey less personal information such as the memorial title and any directional information. As with the overall design intent, the typography and general graphic design approach aims to convey a reflective quality rather than demanding to be heard and for this reason we have avoided san serif font choices.