Foster and Heatherwick shortlisted to design Queen Elizabeth II Memorial

The UK government has announced the shortlist for the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial, with studios Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, WilkinsonEyre and Jamie Fobert Architects in the running.

Five teams have been shortlisted to design the memorial to the former UK monarch, who passed away in 2022 after ruling for 70 years.

Memorial to be created in St James Park

Among the shortlisted teams is Foster + Partners, which is led by architect Norman Foster (pictured above with Queen Elizabeth II), with artist Yinka Shonibare and landscape architect Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, while the team led by Heatherwick Studio includes sculptor Halima Cassell, landscape designers MRG Studio and engineering studios Webb Yates and Arup.

The other three teams in consideration are landscape studio J&L Gibbons with set designer Michael Levine, architecture studio William Matthews Associates and engineering firms Structure Workshop and Arup; garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, artist Adam Lowe of Factum Arte and Structure Workshop; and WilkinsonEyre with artists Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, landscape designer Andy Sturgeon, and engineers Atelier One and Hilson Moran.

Set to be built on a site in St James Park alongside the Mall, the memorial will "celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's extraordinary life of service and provide a space for pause and reflection".

The five teams were shortlisted following an open competition. They will now each develop design concepts that will be submitted later this year with the winner announced in the summer.

Final design to be revealed in 2026

The final design, which will include a "figurative representation" of Queen Elizabeth II, 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.

At the time, Foster paid tribute to the monarch.

"I had the privilege to know Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the last five decades of her remarkable 70-year reign as our Monarch," he said. "During that time, myself and colleagues were honoured to welcome her on many occasions when she celebrated projects for which we had been commissioned."

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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