The Student Union building at Southampton University was designed by Sir Basil Spence, the architect of Coventry Cathedral. The building occupies the site of a former brick quarry. One of the design concepts was to re-establish the ground level datum of the site before excavation of clay began. Sir Basil Spence located steel framed glass boxes above this datum, possibly influenced by the Californian Case Study Houses undertaken in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Our cafe sits below this datum within the clay zone, enjoying views across the now landscaped quarry bed.
