The Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Masterplan Design Competition is an open search for an exceptionally dedicated and inspired multidisciplinary team to create a landmark memorial masterplan of outstanding aesthetic quality that celebrates and honours Queen Elizabeth II. 

The competition is being directed by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee (QEMC) and the Cabinet Office, a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government. 

The Committee Chair, Lord Janvrin, who was Queen Elizabeth II’s former Private Secretary, explains: 

‘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.’ 

Envisaged as a celebration of Elizabeth II as well as a place of reflection, the memorial project needs to tell the story of a long reign and be beautiful, inclusive and sustainable. The site traverses London’s Grade I listed St James’s Park from Marlborough Gate on The Mall covering land surrounding the pathway to, and including, the Blue Bridge and across to Birdcage Walk. 

The challenge and opportunity for competing design teams could hardly be more significant: the project will create a new national landmark. 

Teams interested in entering will need to read the competition Search Statement to thoroughly understand the project vision set out in the Foreword and the initiative’s objectives before submitting an Expression of Interest at the competition’s first stage. 

The deadline for stage one submissions is 14:00 GMT Monday 20 January 2025. Enter now

See Search Statement for full details.

Strategic Objectives

• Create an original masterplan design that evokes Queen Elizabeth II’s unique qualities, values, and life of service to tell the story of her long reign through integrated design, landscaping and placemaking
• Propose an ambitious design on a scale that is appropriate to the late Queen’s standing as a Queen Regnant, Britain and the Realms’ longest reigning sovereign and a respected global figure.
• Create an emotionally powerful place with celebratory aspects that inspire a sense of national pride, community, and belonging as well as serene spaces that encourage individual reflection and engaging planted gardens that function all year
• Design a memorial masterplan that is sensitive to the setting of exceptional international, constitutional and historic significance, including major Royal memorials nearby
• Show understanding of, and sensitivity to, architect John Nash’s landscape designs
• Affirm sustainable values – from design through to operations and use
• Integrate interpretative immersive and interactive elements to engage current and upcoming generations
• Demonstrate realism about the project budget using resources to achieve good use of public money

Practical Objectives

• Consider the daily rhythm of St James’s Park and its uses, ensuring that the masterplan design works with the Grade I listed Park’s broader remit – especially how the memorial site blends with the wider Park
• Create a design that is accessible and communicates to all visitors – regardless of age, faith, background, nationality, language or knowledge; the experience of visiting and engaging should be an equal one, regardless of ability
• Declutter the site – address or remove existing structures, where permitted, and consider their positioning, access and entrance points that diminish the quality of the overall visitor and visual experience
• Take account of public safety and accessibility, ensuring the appropriate technical, environmental and safety standards are met; assess projected visitor numbers
• Anticipate tactile responses as visitors may want to touch elements of the memorial landscape
• Show awareness of, and sensitivity to, the Park’s biodiversity and ecosystem
• Minimise the likelihood of vandalism; ensure ongoing maintainability without the need for difficult or onerous access arrangements

The project site, close to the seat of monarchy and the monarch’s official residence at Buckingham Palace, and in the heart of the constitutional cityscape, traverses the Grade I listed St James’s Park in London.

This is an area of London central to national identity, which has hosted events that have shaped public memory and collective experience, notably including Trooping the Colour, Royal Jubilees, and latterly the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, as well as countless military parades and official visits from overseas Heads of State.

The project site itself is orientated along a pathway from Marlborough Gate across the Blue Bridge to Birdcage Walk. This elegantly connects the informal ambience of the Park’s landscapes with the ceremonial formality of The Mall. 

The pedestrian bridge crossing, an essential thoroughfare within the Park, affords iconic views. To its south-west lies a natural bowled area offering an open space for collective gathering and private reflection. The path, and surrounding land, from Marlborough Gate through to Birdcage Walk introduces a measured procession, guiding visitors on a journey through a landscape rich in history and character.

This setting was carefully chosen by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee after engaging with the public, key stakeholders and experts across the UK. The site’s outstanding qualities include its historical significance and personal connection to the late Queen, as well as its proximity to the ceremonial route of The Mall. 

Sensitive to the Park and heritage setting, the memorial landscape needs to communicate both through an informal route across the Park and a heightened formal presence on the ceremonial Mall.

In the competition brief are defining elements, including a new bridge over the lake, as well as opportunities for artistic interventions and enhancing existing landscaping.

A standalone monument including a figurative representation of the late Queen will be placed at the Marlborough Gate entrance. Post-competition, an artist/​sculptor for the figurative element will be appointed by the winning Lead Designer in consultation and agreement with the Committee, ensuring a strong creative match and an integrated scheme.

See Search Statement for full details.

The competition is being run under the Restricted Procedure in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) regulation 28, leading to the intended award of a services contract to the successful tenderer to deliver design services. 

Five teams will be shortlisted to participate in stage two. The competition honorarium paid to each of the shortlisted design teams will be £50,000.

A provisional construction budget in the range of £23–46m excluding VAT has been identified for the project. The initiative is intended to make an immediate start post-competition with the planning consent process begun in summer 2025 and construction scheduled to start in 2027.

The competition requires integrated multidisciplinary design teams comprising (as a minimum):

• Creative Lead (Lead Designer)
• Contractual Lead (registered in the UK)
• Architect*
• Artist*
• Landscape Architect
• Planning Consultant
• Heritage Consultant
• Structural and M/E/P Engineer
• Digital Designer (may be integrated above)
• Project Manager
• Cost Consultant

*Potential creative lead

In addition to the core team noted above, a Principal Designer for Construction and Design Management (CDM) Regulations 2015 will need to be appointed for the project.

Please note, the team will form itself under a Contractual Lead (anticipated to be an architect). 

In addition, competitors may include others disciplines central to the design approach, including:

• Lighting Design
• Interpretation and Curation
• Horticulture and Ecology
• Accessibility
• Wayfinding
• Sustainability
• Logistics
• Security

Some or all the disciplines noted above may be provided by one company and are not required to be proposed by individual companies. The winning team will be required to include an architect registered in the United Kingdom as part of the design team for the project (this may be the Lead Consultant).

Please see Search Statement for full details.

The Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial project is being overseen by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee (QEMC), an independent body responsible for considering and recommending proposals for a memorial to Queen Elizabeth II. It is jointly supported by the UK Government (through the Cabinet Office) and the Royal Household, and chaired by the late Queen’s former Private Secretary, The Rt Hon. Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO. 

Committee members include:

• The Rt Hon. Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO (Chair)
• The Rt Hon. Baroness Valerie Amos LG CH 
• Dame Amelia Fawcett DBE CVO
• Joe Garner
• Alex Holmes, Queen’s Young Leader
• Dr Anna Keay OBE
• Sandy Nairne CBE FSA
• Sir William Shawcross CVO

Please read the Competition Conditions for details of the Competition’s Selection Panel.

Press Office

pressoffice@​cabinetoffice.​gov.​uk

Competition Enquiries

qememorial@​malcolmreading.​com
James Matthews