How the Grenfell Memorial process shows RIBA competitions uniting communities, the Government and experts to create a lasting legacy.

A design project is more than just the relationship between the client and architect; it involves the wider community, ensuring a legacy that will last for years to come. Learn how the final evaluation panel, which included the Grenfell Memorial Commission, the local community and government representatives, collaborated to honour the 72 people who lost their lives through a RIBA Competition. 

As the UK’s most widely recognised provider of competition services, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) involvement indicates the client’s commitment to an open, fair, and transparent process. Having supported the principle of architectural competitions since 1871, all RIBA-managed competitions follow best practice principles.

The recent Grenfell Memorial Selection Process showed how important it is to engage with the community from the very beginning of the project all the way through the process, especially the profound impact the new memorial garden will have as a lasting legacy for the bereaved families, friends, survivors, and supporting residents.

The Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission’s community representatives described the selection of Freehaus as bringing them ‘significantly closer to creating a bold, fitting, and lasting memorial to our 72 loved ones, and to our Grenfell community, whose lives were forever changed by the devastating tragedy on 14 June 2017. We will never forget’. Freehaus’s design was selected from the five shortlisted teams, and the practice will now work closely with bereaved and survivor families and the immediate community that lives close to Grenfell Tower to finalise and create the memorial garden.

This approach is consistent across all RIBA-managed competitions. Independent and impartial, RIBA bear no allegiance to a particular design team or procurement method, and a final evaluation panel, including a RIBA Competitions Architect Adviser, evaluate the architectural practices that have entered. This enables a client to make informed decisions based on expert evaluation of the shortlisted entries.

Whether for a major public building, a memorial garden, or a smaller scale project, a well run competition allows a client to identify creative, experienced architectural practices that can bring fresh thinking and deliver long term value.

Start a conversation with the competitions team at the early stages of your project to ensure your objectives are met and lead to a desired outcome.

Email: RIBA.Competitions@riba.org

Call: +44(0)20 7307 5355

Discover more: riba.org/getting-started

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