Queen Elizabeth II memorial proposals revealed

Proposals by Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio and WilkinsonEyre for a memorial to Queen Elizabeth II near Buckingham Palace in London have been revealed.

Five proposed design concepts for the Queen Elizabeth II memorial in St James's Park are now being displayed in an online gallery for the public to provide feedback.

All of the designs for the memorial to the former UK monarch, who passed away in 2022 after ruling for 70 years, include creating a new bridge over St James's Park Lake.

The shortlisted teams to "celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's extraordinary life of service and provide a space for pause and reflection" are led by Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, J&L Gibbons, Tom Stuart-Smith and WilkinsonEyre.

The Heatherwick Studio design, which was created with sculptor Halima Cassell, landscape designers MRG Studio and engineering studios Webb Yates and Arup, is named Bridge of Togetherness.

The centrepiece of a memorial walk, the bridge will contain a statue of the Queen, shaded by "eight sculptural lilies".

"Our design is rooted in the idea of togetherness," said the studio. "A physical expression of what the Queen stood for above all else, which is unity."

Informed by John Nash's original landscape for the park, Foster + Partners' design, created with landscape architect Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, will contain a stone path leading to the Unity Bridge.

A statue of the Queen would be located on the Mall, while artist Yinka Shonibare would create the Wind Sculpture statue in the park.

"Between the gates, the Commonwealth Garden and Yinka Shonibare's Wind Sculpture define a space for reflection and shared experience; the Community Garden's artistic installations celebrate the diversity of the United Kingdom; and the Unity Bridge is a jewel crowning the path and Memorial journey," said the team.

WilkinsonEyre, working with artists Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, landscape designer Andy Sturgeon, and engineers Atelier One and Hilson Moran, proposed a pair of overlapping bridges as the centrepiece of its design.

"We envision a thread of pathways and landscapes gently woven through the natural fabric of St James's Park – its trees, lake, and terrain – creating a contemplative journey that honours her seven decades of service," said the team.

Tom Stuart-Smith's proposal, which was created with Jamie Fobert Architects, artist Adam Lowe of Factum Arte and Structure Workshop, would be based around an "exact cast" of an oak in Windsor Great Park.

Set on a plinth within the lake, the oak would have a curved bridge built alongside it.

"The central composition is formed by an exact cast of an awe-inspiring oak from Windsor Great Park, representing her strength, endurance and the historic place of the monarchy in our constitution," said the team.

"A gracefully curved stone bridge connects the memorial to the surrounding landscape, serving as both a viewing platform and civic space."

The final proposal is by J&L Gibbons with set designer Michael Levine, architecture studio William Matthews Associates and engineering firms Structure Workshop and Arup.

"The Queen was the nation's bedrock," said the team. "It is with bedrock that we have created a bridge over soil, tree roots and water. A meandering flow of geology carrying people through an ephemeral choreography of blossoming and colour beneath the high tree canopy."

Following the public consultation, the final design will be revealed in April 2026.

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. To mark her death in 2022, we rounded up 20 key buildings she opened during her 70-year reign.

Earlier in 2022, the UK celebrated her Platinum Jubilee. As part of the celebrations, memorial shortlisted-studio Heatherwick Studio created the Tree of Trees sculpture at Buckingham Palace.

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