| Admin History | Basil Urwin Spence (1907-1976), architect, was born in Bombay, India, the son of Urwin Spence, a Civil Servant, and Daisy Crisp. He was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, and studied architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art before completing his training at Bartlett School of Architecture in London.
His first position was as an assistant to Edward Luytens; he later worked for Sir William Kininmonth before returning to Edinburgh in 1930. Spence served in the British Army during the Second World War reaching the rank of Major.
Spence's architectural career resumed after 1945 and his first major project was for the design for the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral which was completed in 1962. Other notable building designs include the original campus designs at the University of Sussex (1960), Hyde Park Barracks, London (1970), and the Home Office Building in Queen Anne's Gate, London (1976). In later years he served as a planning consultant and became a professor, teaching at a large number of British Universities. From 1958-1960 he served as the President of RIBA. He was knighted in 1960. |