Wahoo, Walkabout and Lloyds - 31-33 High Street is changing

Some will have memories of banking there, others will have hazy recollections of nights out there, but soon students will live there.

In May 1940, Southampton High Street was graced with the opening of a branch of the Bank of England - the first to be opened outside of London in more than 100 years. 

Constructed from Portland stone with motifs by sculptor Sir Charles Wheeler, this branch was located at 31-33 High Street and neighboured the Dolphin Hotel. The former building on that spot had been badly damaged during the Second World War and consequently demolished.

Constructed with two levels of underground chambers, the bank was equipped with a large vault for gold in its lowest chamber and an equally sizable treasury vault in its upper basement.

Expansion followed soon afterwards, adding four floors and a mezzanine level to its structure. At its rear was staff accommodation that included a manager's flat plus six bedsits.

In 1987, a new chapter began for the bank when it shut its doors and reopened as Lloyds TSB.

By 1994 it became the popular Australian sports bar chain Walkabout but closed in 2009, and Wahoo soon took its place.

But Wahoo was relatively short-lived and became Elements before finally closing in 2015.

The property lay empty until work recently got underway to transform the site into ‘luxury’ student flats.

  Planning for 120 student units at the building was approved in June 2017, but building work stalled.

  A change to the plans to allow up to 120 - giving some flexibility - was submitted this year and approved by Southampton City Council.

However, the front of the building on Southampton's High Street will be kept the same and the existing building repurposed as a restaurant or cafe space.

Rising five storeys high, the modern student accommodation complex is set to be built at the back of the area.