Buckingham Palace gets climate crisis makeover in architects’ impression ahead of Jubilee

Buckingham Palace has been given a dramatic makeover to protect it from the effects of the climate crisis in a new sketch to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. 

• Buckingham Palace has been given a dramatic and somewhat unsettling makeover in an artistic impression ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. 
• The historic royal headquarters is shown to be submerged in water as a result of flooding in a stark warning of how the climate crisis could affect life in London. 
• In other royal news, Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen - documentary reveals 'the fun behind the formality' of Royal life.
  

Buckingham Palace has undergone a drastic makeover ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in a vision created by six renowned architects for Country Life magazine. 

One of the proposed sketches shows how the climate crisis could impact the iconic royal headquarters in the future, with illustrations depicting its lower storeys submerged by Thames water due to rising sea levels. 

Natasha Brown of Giles Quarme Architects named her reimagining, 'Buckingham Waterworld', to reflect the modifications that will be necessary to cope with this unprecedented flooding. In the image, the historic building is surrounded by water dotted with a variety of small and large sailboats. 

"If sea level rose by a yard, due to climate change, the Thames flooding of central London would occur. Wellington Arch would form the Watergate for the palace,” Brown tells Country Life. 

The eco-conscious designer also made suggestions for how the palace could utilize certain tools to ensure transportation could safely continue if the roads become inaccessible. 

“The Queen’s rowing barge, Gloriana, would be an excellent water taxi and Thames barges would provide zero-carbon deliveries," she added, before explaining how the Duchy of Cornwall's "kelp forests could provide roof insulation with a native-tree covered roof garden, assisting carbon offset."

This isn't the first time concerns have been raised about the future of the Queen's most famous residence. In October 2021, scientists warned that Buckingham Palace could be destroyed by floods if urgent action is not taken to address the climate crisis. A study conducted by Climate Central found that the first three floors of the 775-room building are at risk of being submerged by the Thames if governments fail to halt the estimated global temperature increase of 3C.