Basil Spence was born in Bombay, India but was sent back to Scotland to study. He attended George Watson's College in Edinburgh, then the architecture school of the Edinburgh College of Art, before completing his architectural studies at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. Spence served in the British Army from 1939 - 1945, reaching the rank of major. A successful high rise that Basil Spence designed is the Knightsbridge Barracks in London. It was built in 1970 and at 29 storeys/90m tall, it was the tallest building Spence designed. It remains part of Londons skyline to this day.