RIBA names five teams on shortlist to design Grenfell Tower memorial

RIBA has named the five multi-disciplinary teams shortlisted in an international competition to design a memorial to the 72 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Curl La Tourelle and Head Architecture, Freehaus, George King Architects and Grow to Know, New South and Office Sian have all made it to the second stage of the competition following a selection process launched in July last year.

Over the next six months, the five teams will embark on a  second round of evaluation, including meetings with bereaved families, survivors and the immediate community that live close to Grenfell Tower. 

A winning team will be announced this summer, with a planning application expected to be submitted in late 2026 if a final design is considered sufficiently developed.

The five finalists were chosen from 28 applications from multi-disciplinary teams including architects, landscape architects, community engagement specialists and other disciplines.

RIBA said a robust evaluation process was undertaken to ensure the second stage shortlist had the right skills, capability and “awareness of the Grenfell tragedy”. 

This included due diligence checks on entrants to make sure that any team, organisation or individual potentially working on the memorial does not bear any responsibility for the June 2017 tragedy.

The announcement of the shortlist comes five months after the publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report into the causes of the disaster, which was caused by a flawed refurbishment on the 24-storey building completed a year before the blaze.

It also follows a 2023 report published by the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission which detailed the Grenfell community’s wishes for a permanent memorial.

Thelma Stober and Lord Paul Boateng, co-chairs of the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission, said: “We have given our word, from the outset, that the voices of the entire Grenfell community must take priority in the memorial decision-making process, both now and in the future.  

“We hope that bereaved families, survivors and those living close to Grenfell Tower, will feel able to participate in the selection of a design team and, later on, contribute to the co-design of the memorial, in whichever way feels appropriate and meaningful for them. 

“This will ensure that the final design embodies a profound tribute to the 72 lives lost and provides a lasting place for loved ones to pay their respects, mourn, and feel connected to their memories.” 

> Also read: RIBA calls for schools and train stations to be classed as higher risk buildings under building safety regulations

> Also read: Clients show ‘total lack of engagement’ with Building Safety Act, says engineering services body

RIBA past president and competitions advisor Jane Duncan said the quality of the initial entries and “compassion, thoughtfulness and clarity of the entrants’ desire to undertake this important community-led commission have quite blown away the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission and the other evaluators”.

A decision on whether to demolish the remains of the tower, which has been covered in a protective wrapping since 2017, will be taken by the government next month.

Communities secretary Angela Rayner said last week that she will announce her decision in February, although she added that there will be “no immediate changes” to the site if she decides the tower should be taken down.

A report published in 2022 by the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission included several suggestions from members of the Grenfell community on what the memorial could look like.

These included retaining the tower as a “vertical garden” with a high level platform and hanging plants on its walls.

The government has set aside a site of just under 3,000sq m for the memorial, which includes the ground on which the tower block stands in North Kensington and adjacent land on either side.