Winning Design For National Memorial to Elizabeth II Revealed

Norman Foster wins contest to transform St James’s Park in tribute to late queen’s "unifying force".

Credit: Foster + Partners

The winning design for the national memorial for Queen Elizabeth II will feature a bridge with a balustrade made of glass, new gates and commemorative gardens. Foster's translucent glass “unity bridge”, inspired by Elizabeth’s wedding tiara, is said to symbolise her as a “unifying force”.

The bridge, with its cast-glass balustrades, is inspired by the Queen Mary fringe tiara worn by Elizabeth on her wedding day in 1947. Featuring 47 bars of diamonds, its antique metal frame snapped when the princess was getting ready on the morning of her wedding and was rushed to jewellers Garrard to be fixed.

“At the heart of our masterplan is a translucent bridge symbolic of her majesty as a unifying force, bringing together nations, countries, the Commonwealth, charities and the armed forces,” said Lord Foster.

The tiara inspired bridge is to be just one of the memorial ingredients in the public park in front of Buckingham Palace, honouring the longest reigning British monarch. Other features of Foster’s design for the transformation of the park include a statue of the late queen in a new civic space at Marlborough gate and a Prince Philip gate on the other side of the park on Birdcage Walk with a statue of the prince. There will also be a “family of gardens” and meandering paths.

All images courtesy of Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners won the competition after being selected by the Queen Elizabeth memorial committee, with feedback taken from a public vote, stakeholders and cultural experts. The design, chosen from a shortlist of five concepts, is a balance of "traditional elements and modern elements, informal and formal", says Lord Robert Janvrin, chair of the memorial committee and the late Queen's former private secretary.

The proposal for the memorial will be subject to change, with the committee working with the team on the final design, which is expected to be unveiled next year, which would have been the queen’s 100th birthday year.

The next stage will be to appoint a sculptor. The final look of the statues will depend on who is appointed, but the illustrations of the main monument so far have shown a conventional image of the late Queen on horseback.