IT HAS been an unusual sight in the city skyline since the 1960s.

But the University of Southampton is moving closer to tearing down Faraday Tower at its Highfield Campus.

The council has already granted permission to demolish the brutalist building that once housed the engineering faculty.

In the latest application, the university has detailed how the structure, built between 1960 and 1963, will be detached from the sewers.

A spokesperson said: "The university obtained permission to demolish Faraday Tower on our Highfield Campus last year and is in the early stages of planning for this site.

"As the planning process progresses we will be in touch with local residents.”

There had been concerns about demolishing the tower when the plans were first lodged, as it is believed to contain asbestos.

When asked about this, Councillor Jeremy Moulton said: “The university were granted approval to demolish their Faraday Tower in January 2021 – the UK planning system allows landowners to apply for demolition works, and the planning department is obliged to comment only on the method of demolition and the manner in which the site will be left afterwards.

"Any issues in respect of protected species are covered by other legislation and it will be for the university to ensure compliance.”

Residents will recognise the tower's unusual design, with narrow foundations stemming into a wider bulk.

It was the creation of Basil Spence, who had been charged the previous decade with creating a master plan for the Highfield Campus and all the major buildings of this period were designed by him.

Towards the end of the 1960s, Southampton had the "first professional standard clean room in any university in the country", enabling it to process silicon technology and devices.

This is according to University of Southampton Special Collections.

The web archive also explains that the Electrical Engineering Department had proposed the new building should be named the Maxwell Building, after James Clerk Maxwell who had formulated the basic equations of electromagnetism.

It states: "The Dean of the Faculty was not keen on that proposal in case people thought the University was linked with the publisher Robert Maxwell and so Faraday – after Michael Faraday, famed for his work with electromagnetism and electrochemistry – was chosen instead."