18th Feb 2021: Finalists announced for Highgate Cemetery transformation

World-famous Highgate Cemetery, resting place of many well-known people from Karl Marx to Lucian Freud, has announced the finalists in its Landscape and Architectural Projects competitions. This takes the Cemetery a step closer to commissioning a new 25-year masterplan for the site. 

Last November, the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust (FOHCT) launched the contests to conserve and enhance the site, with a brief that set out the challenges and opportunities for the site posed by climate change, decay and evolving visitor expectations. Entrants were asked to balance the requirements of a working cemetery with the cultural heritage and community needs, along with a growing number of visitors.

The finalists are:

The Landscape Competition:

• Colvin and Moggridge

• Gustafson Porter and Bowman

• J&L Gibbons

• Periscope

The Architectural Projects Competition:

• Caruso St John

• Dow Jones

• Hopkins

• Manalo & White

• MICA Architects

• Purcell

The landscape finalists will now develop their ideas before an online public exhibition of their proposals in April, while the architectural finalists will set out their understanding of Highgate Cemetery’s needs and their approach to design. Martin Adeney, Chair of the FOHCT, said: ‘The winners of the competitions will be announced in May and we will work with them to ensure the Cemetery remains the place of enchantment which so many people value, whose carefully-tended natural environment provides sanctuary for those buried here and their loved ones, as well as the thousands who visit.’

These tenders were first published by TenderStream on 26.11.2020 and can be viewed in our archive here and here