Dezeen Magazine

David Adjaye and Ron Arad to design UK Holocaust memorial

British architect David Adjaye and Israeli architect Ron Arad have been named the winners of a competition to create the UK's National Holocaust Memorial in a park near the Houses of Parliament in London.

Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye

Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects will design the National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre for Victoria Tower Gardens.

The architects have drawn up plans for ground-level memorial with a subterranean learning centre. Their team also includes landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman, consultants Plan A and lighting specialist DHA Designs.

Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye

The competition was launched by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation to commemorate the six million Jewish people murdered during the Holocaust, and to all other victims of Nazi persecution.

Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye

The team saw off competition from nine others: Zaha Hadid Architects with British-Indian artist Anish KapoorCaruso St John Architects with British artists Marcus Taylor and Rachel Whiteread; Foster + Partners with Israeli artist Michal Rovner; David Morley Architects and Finnish firm Lahdelma & Mahlamäki ArchitectsHaptic Architects and New York-based Studio LibeskindJohn McAslan + Partners and US firm MASS Design Group; Irish architects Heneghan Peng; US practice Allied Works; and Canadian studio Diamond Schmitt Architects.

Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye

The winning design was selected following a public consultation by a panel of 13 jurors including London mayor Sadiq Khan, broadcaster Peter Bazalgette, Design Council CEO Sarah Weir, V&A director Tristram Hunt, and holocaust survivor Ben Helfgott.

Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye

"This unique and immersive memorial is not just for Londoners, but for the whole UK.  It will ensure the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten and will stand as a powerful reminder to future generations about the fragility of peace," said Khan.

"The bold and sensitive collaboration between architecture, landscape architecture, art and design from such a multi-faceted and award-winning team truly captured our attention," added Weir.

"But also the seriousness with which the team approached the brief and the responsibility they saw they had to carry the messages from this terrible history on to the generations to come," she continued. "Sir David Adjaye described the core of their concept during the interviews as being 'architecture as emotion'."

Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye

David Adjaye and Ron Arad's firms previously collaborated on a not dissimilar design for Canada's National Holocaust Monument, but lost out to a proposal by Daniel Libeskind, which has just completed.

More images

Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye
Arial plan
Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye
Holocaust memorial winner announced as David Adjaye