Project teams led by J&L Gibbons and Tom Stuart-Smith have been shortlisted alongside Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio and Wilkinson Eyre to design a new memorial to the late queen in St. James’s Park.
The UK Government has launched a public online exhibition showcasing five proposed design concepts for a national memorial to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, including concepts led by Fellows of the Landscape Institute, Johanna Gibbons and Tom Stuart-Smith.
The five shortlisted teams – selected through an international design competition managed by Malcolm Reading Consultants – represent some of the world’s leading talents in architecture, landscape and the arts. Each team was challenged to create a design that honours the late Queen’s life of service and offers a space for reflection within the historic setting of St James’s Park.
A Bridge of Stone and Story: Design statement from J&L Gibbons with Michael Levine RDI, William Matthews Associates, Structure Workshop and Arup
The Queen was the nation’s bedrock. 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. The memorial is an immersive landscape, enriching the heritage of the park, embracing resilience and holding narrative threads of an extraordinary life. It will be crafted, timeless and versatile, using stone sourced from the four nations. An unfolding scene from which will spring the elegance of a truly innovative stone bridge, both graceful and strong with falling water that gently brushes the surface of the lake. A perambulation through glades that invites forest bathing in the heart of the city, while redefining the park’s capacity to welcome even higher footfall and for adaptation to a future climate, all stitched with care into the fabric of the park.
A Landscape of Memory and Symbolism: Design statement from Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, Adam Lowe (Factum Arte) and Structure Workshop
The memorial for Queen Elizabeth II will honour her life and legacy through a landscape of storytelling around objects from the world she lived in. 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. It stands on a plinth in the lake. A gracefully curved stone bridge connects the memorial to the surrounding landscape, serving as both a viewing platform and civic space. The memorial path, made from stones from across Britain, begins with a newly configured entrance on The Mall and incorporates many bronze casts of significant objects from her life, accompanied by a sonic soundscape of memories from those she impacted. The gentle, serpentine design engages visitors of all ages and abilities, creating a lasting symbol of her legacy while integrating seamlessly into the historic landscape.
Other shortlisted teams include the below. We congratulate all LI members who have contributed to these teams on an individual basis.
- Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
- Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates and Arup
- WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One and Hilson Moran
Contribute your feedback
An online exhibition has been set up to ensure that as many people as possible can view and comment on the memorial proposals as they are developed.
The proposals can be accessed via the competition organiser’s website:
https://competitions.malcolmreading.com/queenelizabethmemorial/gallery
Public feedback is welcomed until 23:59 on 19 May 2025, and will be considered by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee as it prepares to select the winning design in early summer.
A separate artist will also be commissioned later this year to create a figurative representation of Queen Elizabeth II, to be incorporated into the final memorial.
