Queen’s memorial design shortlist includes Lord Foster, who once criticised King

The shortlist of teams vying to design the national memorial to the late Queen has been unveiled – and includes a renowned modernist architect who once criticised the King for using his “privileged position” to intervene in a development.

Lord Foster of Foster + Partners – the famous British architect who was responsible for The Gherkin in London – is among the five finalists.

His team also features British artist Yinka Shonibare, whose work explores cultural identity and the post-colonialism world, and ecologist Professor Nigel Dunnett, who was behind the Superbloom planting scheme in the Tower of London’s moat to celebrate the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Hailed as one of the most significant design initiatives in modern British history, the tribute in St James’s Park, close to Buckingham Palace in the heart of London, will provide the public with a permanent memorial to the country’s longest-reigning monarch.

The shortlisted teams have been asked to create a masterplan which celebrates Elizabeth II’s “extraordinary life of service” and also provides a space for pause and reflection.

In 2009, Lord Foster was one of a number of architects who publicly criticised the then-Prince of Wales over his lobbying and wrote a letter to a newspaper accusing Charles of using his “privileged position” to “skew the course” of the planning of the former Chelsea Barracks.

The prince, who championed traditional approaches to architecture, had reportedly privately contacted developers Qatari Diar, backed by the Qatari royal family, to recommend more classical plans by architect Quinlan Terry, rather than those by another modernist architect, Lord Rogers.

In 2023, Lord Foster told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he would “love the opportunity” to talk to the King about the “benefits of change” in architecture.

The King has not been involved in the shortlisting process, which is said to have attracted a wide range of “excellent creative talent” from across the UK and internationally.

The task was carried out by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, headed by the late Queen’s former private secretary Lord Janvrin.

The five teams now have to submit their designs later in the spring, with the winner announced this summer.

The final design will be submitted to the King and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for approval and announced in 2026 to coincide with what would have been Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday year.

The Foster + Partners bid also involves the firm’s joint head of design, architect Spencer de Grey, French landscape architect Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, who is known for his contemporary designs, and glass structural engineering firm Eckersley O’Callaghan.

The project, which has a provisional construction budget of between £23 million and £46 million excluding VAT, includes a replacement of the Blue Bridge in St James’s Park.

An artist or sculptor with the key task of depicting a likeness of Elizabeth II will also be appointed by the lead designer in consultation with the committee.

The other shortlisted teams are:

– Heatherwick Studio with sculptor and ceramicist Halima Cassell

Architect Thomas Heatherwick is one of the UK’s most prolific designers and known for the Olympic cauldron at the 2012 London Games and the redesign of London’s famous Routemaster buses.

He also worked on the plans for the ill-fated Garden Bridge across the River Thames, which was backed by Boris Johnson as London mayor but abandoned after being labelled a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Heatherwick created the 21-metre high living Tree of Trees sculpture staged outside Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Cassell, who was born in Kashmir, Pakistan, and grew up in the north west of England, is known for her intricate carvings.

“This fusion of cultural environments as well as my love for Islamic art and historical British architecture has shaped my identity and underpins my practice,” Cassell has said.

– J&L Gibbons with production designer Michael Levine, and William Matthews Associates

Johanna Gibbons has been hailed as a visionary landscape architect, recognised for her “pioneering and influential work combining design with activism, education and professional practice”.

J&L Gibbons partner Neil Davidson was responsible for the Urban Nature Project at the Natural History Museum.

The five-acre green space in central London wraps around the building with a Discovery Garden and an Evolution Garden and was backed by the Princess of Wales last year.

Levine is a Canadian set and costume designer, known for his opera work, while William Matthews Associates designed the Tintagel Castle footbridge in Cornwall.

– Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects and artist Adam Lowe of Factum Arte

Stuart-Smith is a landscape architect, recognised for his numerous gold medal-winning Chelsea Flower Show gardens.

He also created the Jubilee Gardens at Windsor Castle in 2002 – the first to be completed at the ancient royal residence for nearly 200 years – and he joined the late Queen and Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh for a stroll through the finished landscape.

His work is described as combining “naturalism with modernity and built forms with romantic planting”.

Jamie Fobert was responsible for the redevelopment of the National Portrait Gallery.

Adam Lowe, who trained in fine art, has dedicated himself to merging new technologies and craft skills, setting up the multidisciplinary workshop Factum Arte and later the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation to create digital documentation of cultural heritage sites and global artworks.

– WilkinsonEyre with artists Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clarke

The firm restored and repurposed the Grade II listed Battersea Power Station and designed the Sky Bridge at Hong Kong International Airport and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

Architects Jim Eyre and Sebastien Ricard are leading the pitch.