Creative teams compete for chance to masterplan key location at St James’s Park

Tenderstream members WilkinsonEyre, William Matthews Associates, Michel Desvigne Paysagiste and Arup are part of teams selected for the shortlist in the design contest for the Queen Elizabeth II memorial at St James’s Park in London. For the first stage of the open competition, designers were required to submit examples of previous projects relevant to the vision for the project set out by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee. The competition attracted a wide range of creative talent from across the UK and internationally. 

The shortlisted teams are as follows:

Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
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
WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One and Hilson Moran

The teams will be asked to create a memorial masterplan that celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s life of service and provides a space for pause and reflection. Designs will also be assessed against wider criteria, including value for money, placemaking and visitor experience. 

On the launch of the competition, memorial committee chair Lord Janvrin stated: ‘Over her 70-year reign – the longest of any British monarch – the late Queen was an exemplary and constant presence in the United Kingdom, the Realms, and the Commonwealth. She was part of our national identity and helped to define our values, she gave us a sense of continuity through times of great change, she was integral to recognising achievement and she exemplified service and duty, strengthened by faith and leavened by pragmatism, optimism and humour. The masterplan design needs to seek inspiration from all this. The memorial must be – simply – a beautiful place, a place to visit with friends, a place to gather, to enjoy, and to reflect on an extraordinary life.’

The winning team will be announced in summer 2025, with the final design formally announced in April 2026, to coincide with what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s hundredth birthday year. 

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

This tender was first published by Tenderstream on 12.09.2024 here

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