QEII Alternate bridge

Queen Elizabeth Memorial Bridge

2025 Competition / Development

St James Park, London, 2026

View a PDF of the full work here

This project is a development of a competition entry for thefutureblueprint’s Alternate QEII Memorial bridge. Entries were to be developed in less than an hour, hence the quick sketch views shown on this page.

Original competition text

“Whatever your position on the British monarchy Queen Elizabeth Il’s reign was ultimately about transition, ushering in a new era of the United Kingdom.

Consequently the brief of a bridge seems fitting. As a monarch, politically neutral, the Queen represented a figurehead for the people of her nation and as opposed to celebrating the crown alone this proposal aims to put people at its heart.

Alongside fulfiling it’s role as a crossing route the bridge provides cantilevering overflow and breakout platforms for users to view and photograph the park and palace beyond. Additional seating and opportunities for pause and rest are provided.

The steel structure is intended to be fully demountable with it’s modular frame allowing the bridge to potentially be removed or adapted in the future. The timber surface offers a carbon effective, tactile finish.”

The bridge has been developed to rationalise the structure and more accurately assess the existing structure.

Consequently many more ‘bays’ have been added and placemaking elements such as built in seating, waste receptacles and power sources recessed in the bridges walls to facilitate small events have been incorporated.

Collaborators

The students, teachers and external parties that influenced this work, in no particular order;

Cathal Crumley and Dr Rebecca Jane McConnell (@thefutureblueprint), Dr. Greg Keefe (Reviewer), Maria Ulashchenko (Reviewer), Jason Boyle (Reviewer)