Sir Basil Spence
Event ID 589156
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Sir Basil Spence
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/589156
Building Notes
In 1956 Southampton University appointed Basil Spence and Partners as consultant architects and planners. Partner Jack Bonnington took a lead role in the project. They were tasked with producing a 25-year development plan for the 52 acre Highfield Campus site. During this time it was envisaged that the number of students would increase from about 1,000 to 4,000.
Between 1959 and 1973 the practice designed 15 buildings for the University. The Senior Common Room, 1960 (cost 120,000 pounds), Arts Buildings 1 and 2, 1963 (350,000 pounds), and the Nuffield Theatre, 1964 (cost 160,000 pounds), were arranged to form a landscaped courtyard known as the Arts Quadrangle. Plans to build a Great Hall and Chapel with this group of buildings were never realised. The Engineering faculty became centralised with the construction of the Tizard Building, the Lanchester Building (both 1963) and the Electrical and Civil Engineering Building (1963). The total cost of the engineering buildings was 1,280,000 pounds. Close by, the Chemistry Building, 1963 (cost 410,000 pounds), the Physics Building, 1966 (cost 800,000 pounds), and the Geology and Botany Building, 1967 (cost 730,000 pounds), were built to form a science 'zone'.
The original development plan stated the benefits of grouping the faculties in this way.
Archive Details
The Sir Basil Spence Archive illustrates the fluid nature of the development proposals. For example, the revised plan of 1964 suggested making provisions for 10,000 students and 2,500 cars, a marked increase on the original figure. Equally, the Pre-clinical Medical Sciences Building, 1972 (cost 2,800,000 pounds), was designed so that it could be expanded in any direction to accommodate the changing requirements of the faculty.
The Archive material also illustrates that the practice was keen to integrate the existing buildings into the modern plan. For example, the decision to use red brick was taken because it was a local building material. The practice also attempted to establish a sense of order and cohesion over the disparate elements of the site by only using multiples of five feet in their designs.
Archive Summary
The Sir Basil Spence Archive holds six manuscript folders, 79 drawings and 69 photographs relating to Southampton University. The manuscript material includes journal articles which give detailed assessments of individual buildings. The correspondence and development proposals allow for a good understanding of the overall plans for the university. The drawings include site plans as well as plans, sections and elevations of the arts quadrangle. The photographic material includes a number interior and exterior photographs by Henk Snoek.
This text was written as one of the outputs of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2005-08.
