Picture credit: theblowup on Unsplash
The London-based, community-focused architect, Freehaus, has been chosen to lead the team developing the Grenfell Tower memorial. They were selected via a RIBA-organised contest, which asked participants to come up with a ‘bold, fitting and lasting memorial’ to the 72 men, women and children who lost their lives in the 2017 fire.
The five shortlisted practices met with the bereaved and the survivors of the 2017 tragedy, along with some of those living in the immediate vicinity of the tower, to create the design brief. Freehaus was selected after 218 community members gave their feedback on the teams’ initial approaches to the design.
The RIBA Chartered Practice specialises in sustainability, heritage and community-led design, and current projects include the design of a new civic hub in Warwickshire and a series of refurbished educational spaces for a charity in North West Kensington.
Freehaus will work with engineer Elliott Wood, town planner Tibbalds, landscape architect BCAL and lighting designer Michael Grubb Studio. Also involved in the collaboration is writer and poet Yomi Sode, access and inclusion consultant Jayne Earnscliffe, and engagement lead, Social Place. The final design is expected to be revealed next summer, in 2027.
Freehaus directors Jonathan Hagos and Tom Bell have said they are honoured to have been chosen for the project, and added, “As we take our first steps in this journey, we want to acknowledge the eight years of advocacy and purposeful action led by the Grenfell community that have brought us here. The design of this future memorial is a responsibility that we do not take lightly”.
Over the course of the project so far, more than 2,259 people gave their views ahead of the design brief being created, 28 teams registered interest and 35 bereaved, survivors and children and young people met the five shortlisted teams in April 2025, for listening sessions. Community members also attended final presentations in September 2025, where they could ask questions.
Demolition contractor, Deconstruct, began taking down Grenfell Tower in September, and the process is expected to take two years. Having been on site since 2017, they were awarded the £12.25m contract without competition, as the government said, “any change in contractor would cause significant inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs”.
The aim is to dismantle the tower with care and sensitivity, preserving some components for potential use in the memorial itself. The memorial will be funded by new government legislation, via a bill to provide the spending authority needed.
Speaking in February, housing secretary, Steve Reed, updated MPs on the implementation of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. He said the government had accepted all 58 recommendations and was on track to complete 70% of them by the end of 2026. He committed to the remaining recommendations being implemented during this parliament.
The government has also published a Construction Products Reform White Paper, outlining plans for a new construction regulator plus changes to modernise building product rules.
The fire at Grenfell was a terrible tragedy, and it’s right that these changes are happening, and that the victims are being remembered. The overall intentions of the inquiry recommendations are positive, and of course it is right that fire safety is improved.
However, the changes do mean that smaller structural engineering practices will no longer be able to work on high-rise buildings, due to the onerous codes, the lists of questions which must be answered, and the lengthy timescales involved. Bearing in mind that there were no structural problems at Grenfell, it is a shame that this is the outcome.
I will, of course, watch with interest when the memorial design is published, and I hope it is a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives. In a video about the project, Susan Al-Safadi, a community representative for Lancaster West Estate residents said, “I guess it’s the link between the past and the future, because we want our future generations to also know what happened. Our focus at the Memorial Commission has always been about finding a fitting memorial which will stand in perpetuity to remind the world of what happened here and to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
