Foster + Partners has won the competition to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II. In February 2025, five finalist teams were selected by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee to develop a master plan honoring and celebrating the late Queen. The memorial aims to provide visitors with a space for reflection in London’s St James’s Park, a site of historical and constitutional significance. Foster + Partners’ winning proposal features a new bridge inspired by the Queen’s wedding tiara, a Prince Philip Gate, and new gardens. The design will continue to be developed until April 2026.
The practice was selected over four other shortlisted teams: 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; Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, Adam Lowe (Factum Arte), and Structure Workshop; and WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One, and Hilson Moran. The selection panel praised Foster + Partners’ design for “balancing formal and informal elements” and for its potential to become “an engaging landmark to endure for generations to come.”
The panel also commended the proposal for its “artistry, use of space, technical skill, and sensitivity to the memorial’s location.” The project will include areas of St James’s Park adjacent to The Mall at Marlborough Gate and Birdcage Walk, replacing the existing bridge between them with a new crossing. The master plan seeks to reflect Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, represented in the concept of balances between “tradition and modernity, public duty and private faith, the United Kingdom and a global Commonwealth.” These dualities are symbolized in the design by two gates and two gardens, joined by a bridge and a “unifying path.”
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The concept will continue to evolve during the design development phase. Sculptors for the figurative elements, such as the statues and the new Prince Philip Gate, have not yet been selected (the current visualizations by Foster + Partners are illustrative only). The proposed gardens will be dedicated to the Commonwealth and the communities of the United Kingdom. The new bridge, replacing the existing Blue Bridge, will feature a cast-glass balustrade inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s wedding tiara.
I knew The Queen on formal occasions but also enjoyed her informality when attending events as a member of the Order of Merit. We have sought to reflect these qualities of the formal and informal in our design, with an appeal across a wide range of ages and interests. To these ends, we have discreetly stretched the boundaries of art and technology with a deliberately gentle intervention. Our design will have the minimum impact on the nature and biodiversity of the Park and it will be phased to ensure that the precious route across it will never be closed. – Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners
From the outset, the competition called for integrated multidisciplinary teams led by either architects or artists. The full winning team includes Foster + Partners as Creative Lead, Architect, Structural and MEP Engineer, Landscape and Horticulture Designer, Lighting Designer, Sustainability and Principal Designer, and Contractual Lead. The team also includes artist Yinka Shonibare; landscape architect Michel Desvigne; Purcell as heritage consultant; Gardiner & Theobald as project manager and cost consultant; 2×4 as digital design and wayfinding consultant; Nigel Dunnett Studio as ecology consultant; David Bonnett Associates as accessibility consultant; Arup as logistics and security consultant; DP9 as planning consultant; and Eckersley O’Callaghan as glass structure engineers.
In addition to the built memorial, the Committee is developing proposals for a UK-wide legacy programme to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II. Foster + Partners will now continue to develop the concept in partnership with the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, including the selection of a sculptor for the figurative elements. The final design and legacy programme will be formally announced in April 2026, coinciding with what would have been the Queen’s hundredth birthday year.
Other recent competition announcements include the selection of four student projects as winners of the EUmies Awards for Young Talent 2025; the awarding of the 2025 OBEL Award to HouseEurope!, a nonprofit promoting the social and ecological transformation of Europe’s built environment; and the announcement of 19 shortlisted projects for the 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Also announced were the winning pavilions for two international architecture events: the TAC! Urban Architecture Festival in Spain with designs celebrating coastal culture, and the “Slow Pavilions” selected for the inaugural edition of the Copenhagen Architecture Biennale.
