He bought Tetley Tea, an English brand, and NatSteel Asia, based in Singapore, whose rolling mills could use the slabsteel produced in Tata's Indian plants.
The sculpture was made using the last slab of steel produced at the plant before it closed and the first to roll off after the furnace was relit by Mr Waterfield's son Wills last year.
The design featured a wooden frame on top of a concrete-slab foundation, with an exterior covered in gray asbestos shingles. (Steel was in short supply.) The structure violated the Cambridge fire code, but it was granted an exemption because of its temporary status.