The competition to design the official Queen Elizabeth II Memorial has entered a defining stage. Five renowned architecture and design studios—including heavyweights like Foster + Partners and Heatherwick Studio—have been selected to develop proposals that honour the Queen’s enduring impact on the UK and the world. Blending innovation, symbolism, and public space, each design offers a distinct vision for what a 21st-century memorial can be.
Set in the heart of St. James’s Park, the memorial will occupy a space of national significance—just steps from Buckingham Palace. The brief: create a place of reflection, connection, and remembrance that speaks to the Queen’s life of service and the values she embodied.
Foster + Partners, working with artist Yinka Shonibare and landscape architect Michel Desvigne, propose a tranquil garden with a sound installation featuring the Queen’s voice.
Courtesy of Foster + Partners, Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Studio.
Heatherwick Studio imagines monumental stone “lily pads” emerging from the ground—an organic, sculptural tribute to continuity and calm.
Courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.
Tom Stuart-Smith, Jamie Fobert and Adam Lowe centre their concept on a cast bronze oak tree, rich with symbolism and material presence.
Courtesy of Tom Stuart-Smith, Jamie Fobert and Adam Lowe.
J\&L Gibbons respond with a forested bridge—layered, immersive, and evocative of intergenerational legacy.
Courtesy of J\&L Gibbons.
WilkinsonEyre takes a more abstract approach, designing a gently choreographed pathway through a landscape of textures, curves, and light.
Courtesy of WilkinsonEyre.
The designs were recently revealed in a digital exhibition curated by Malcolm Reading Consultants. While the public feedback phase has now closed, the five proposals remain viewable online, offering insight into how leading creatives envision a memorial that’s both timeless and contemporary.
The winning design will be announced in 2026, to mark what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday.
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Cover images: Courtesy of the Finalists
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pierre alain varreon
commentWhat hell is Thomas Heatherwick studio doing in that selection? It should be therefore canceled and the whole enchilada started over. Heatherwick Studio is not at all a 'heavy weight' it is essentially a massive mass.