Flowers for Sydney Lindt siege victims

Tori Johnson's partner Thomas Zinn thanks student Jack Tighe for a bunch of sunflowers at the memorial ceremony. Photo / Getty Images

Amemorial honouring the victims of the Lindt cafe siege was unveiled yesterday at Sydney's Martin Place during an emotional ceremony attended by their families and the survivors.

More than 200 handcrafted flowers in mirrored cubes have been inlaid into the pavement just metres from where the siege claimed the lives of cafe manager Tori Johnson and barrister Katrina Dawson.

"No Australian will ever forget the heartbreaking events that unfolded at Martin Place three years ago.

"But none more so than the loved ones of Tori and Katrina — wonderful young Australians who were tragically killed by an act of evil and terror," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told the audience.

Dawson's daughter Chloe Smith and niece Samantha Dawson presented hydrangeas to widower Paul Smith, while student Jack Tighe presented a bouquet of sunflowers to Johnson's partner Thomas Zinn.

The families, including the victims' parents, embraced after viewing the 210 floral cubes that have been scattered in a starburst pattern.

Survivor Louisa Hope said the memorial, which will illuminate at night, was a fitting way to remember the lives lost. The tribute, designed by Professor Richard Johnson and artist Jess Dare, was inspired by the sea of 110,000 bunches of flowers that blanketed Martin Place after the 17-hour stand-off.

Eighteen people were taken hostage by Man Haron Monis in the cafe on the morning of Monday, December 15.

Police stormed the cafe at 2am the following day when Monis executed Johnson. Dawson, a mother of three, died from police bullet fragments.

Earlier this year, NSW Coroner Michael Barnes found that police waited 10 minutes too long in storming the premises.