# Basil Spence’s legacy resurfaces as Edinburgh office becomes a hotel

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/an-architectural-visionary-or-vandal-why-the-arguments-still-rage-over-the-legacy-of-sir-basil-spence/
- Published: 2026-11-15T19:33:05+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T19:47:23+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16285327/An-architectural-visionary-vandal-arguments-rage-legacy-Sir-Basil-Spence.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: World

## Key points

- Coventry Cathedral made Spence famous.
- His modernist buildings still divide opinion.
- Edinburgh’s former Scottish Widows HQ is set to become a hotel.

## Summary

Sir Basil Spence’s legacy remains contested 50 years after his death: celebrated for Coventry Cathedral and major projects at home and abroad, he was also criticised for buildings that became unpopular or were demolished. The planned conversion of his former Scottish Widows headquarters in Edinburgh into a 385-room hotel has renewed debate over whether his modernist work should be preserved and adapted.

Spence trained as an architect before the Second World War and served as an officer in Normandy, where he said he wanted to build a cathedral after seeing churches destroyed. His design for Coventry Cathedral brought him acclaim and a knighthood, followed by commissions including university buildings, the British Embassy in Rome and New Zealand’s parliament. In Glasgow, however, his 1960s Hutchesontown C tower block became notorious for damp, poor maintenance and social isolation, and was demolished in 1993.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.