Heatherwick, Foster among UK's Queen Elizabeth II memorial design shortlist teams

The UK government has named five teams to its shortlist in the competition to design a new memorial for Queen Elizabeth II by 2026. The all-British list includes mainstays Heatherwick Studio, Foster + Partners, and WilkinsonEyre. They will compete against others led by J&L Gibbons and Tom Stuart-Smith for the second and final stage, after which the winner will be announced this summer. 

The memorial is supposed to invite visitors as a space for reflection and contemplation of the monarch’s dedication to public service during the Second World War and throughout her life as the country’s principal matriarch, according to the design brief. 

The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee has said it also will value the role of placemaking and project cost in the assessment of the design concepts. Winners will then be able to choose an artist or sculptor who will depict the late Queen. As was announced previously, the memorial is to be erected inside St. James’s Park adjacent to The Mall at Marlborough Gate.

The shortlisted teams are:

• Foster Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
• Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates 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
• J&L Gibbons with Michael Levine RDI, William Matthews Associates, Structure Workshop and Arup

The final design will be formally announced in April 2026 to coincide with what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s one-hundredth birthday.