Shortlisted Design Concepts for Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Published

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13 May 2025

The UK government has unveiled an online exhibition showcasing five design concepts for the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial in St James’s Park.

 

Watch the Video

 

 

The shortlisted teams, who applied via a competition by The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, have submitted their design concepts for a permanent memorial to the UK’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The scheme will be situated at St James’s Park, along a pathway from Marlborough Gate across the Blue Bridge to Birdcage Walk. 

The competition brief includes a new bridge over the lake (replacing the Blue Bridge) and a standalone monument of the late Queen at the Marlborough Gate entrance. 

Let’s take a look at the five potential design concepts:

 

Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste

 

Foster + Partners’  memorial masterplan, designed in collaboration with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste includes a “unity bridge” and a natural stone path made from materials from the UK and Commonwealth.

Audio installations featuring the Queen’s voice are a central part of the concept, including an “ever-evolving digital conservatory”, accessible from the site, or anywhere in the world.

 

Picture: a CGI showing "the unity bridge". Image Credit: Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste

 

Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates and Arup

 

Heatherwick Studio’s “Bridge of Togetherness” concept features a memorial walk, honouring the Queen’s 70-year reign, with the path expressed as 70 lily pads. Each lily pad has an inscription from "voices across the Commonwealth and Realms".  At the centre of the bridge is a sculpture protected by a canopy of eight sculptural lilies.

The design utilises limestone, a material chosen because it "ages with dignity".

 

Picture: a CGI showing the proposed "Bridge of Togetherness" at night, with the sculpture lit up. Image Credit: Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates and Arup

 

J&L Gibbons with Michael Levine RDI, William Matthews Associates, Structure Workshop and Arup

 

J&L Gibbons’ designs place a figurative plinth at the entrance to the park, showing the Queen riding side saddle at her first Trooping the Colour in 1952.

This proposal focuses on creating an immersive experience of "forest bathing in the heart of the city" through "a perambulation through glades."

 

Picture: a CGI showing the proposed plinth of Queen Elizabeth II on a horse. Image Credit: J&L Gibbons with Michael Levine RDI, William Matthews Associates, Structure Workshop and Arup

 

Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, Adam Lowe (Factum Arte) and Structure Workshop

 

An exact cast of an oak tree from Windsor Great Park stands on a plinth in the lake in Tom Stuart-Smith’s concept.

This will be created by scanning the 900-year-old oak, 3D printing it and casting it by the traditional wax process. The leaves will be lacquered to retain their bright colour, so when lit, the tree will appear like a mirage reflected in the lake.

 

Picture: a CGI showing how the cast of an oak tree might look at night, reflecting into the lake. Image Credit: Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, Adam Lowe (Factum Arte) and Structure Workshop

 

WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One and Hilson Moran

 

WilkinsonEyre’s proposal has the lightest footprint on the park, with a pair of bridges framing views of the park, royal palaces, and the London skyline. 

 

Picture: a CGI showing a proposal for a pair of intertwined bridges. Image Credit: WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One and Hilson Moran

 

It also features a thread of pathways, each defining themes of the Queen’s life: Reign, Faith, Commonwealth, Values, Nature, Family, and Prince Philip.

Picture: a CGI showing the lily pad bridge concept. Image Credit: Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates and Arup

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 13 May 2025

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