SEC Armadillo

Last updated

SEC Armadillo
The 2k Armadillo
Clyde Auditorium from across the Clyde - geograph.org.uk - 1554326.jpg
Clyde Auditorium as seen from Pacific Quay, 2009
SEC Armadillo
Former namesClyde Auditorium (1994–2017)
AddressFinnieston Street
Glasgow
G3 8YW
Scotland
LocationScottish Event Campus
Coordinates 55°51′34″N4°17′17″W / 55.859496°N 4.287962°W / 55.859496; -4.287962
Public transit Exhibition Centre railway station
OwnerScottish Event Campus Limited
Capacity 3,000
Construction
Broke groundSeptember 1995;28 years ago (1995-09)
BuiltSeptember 1995;28 years ago (1995-09)
to August 1997;27 years ago (1997-08)
Opened7 September 1997;26 years ago (1997-09-07)
Construction cost £30 million
Architect Foster and Partners
Structural engineer Arup Group
Website
Venue Info (Scottish Event Campus)

The SEC Armadillo (originally known as the Clyde Auditorium) is an auditorium located near the River Clyde, in Glasgow, Scotland. [1] It is one of three venues on the Scottish Event Campus, which includes the SEC Centre and the OVO Hydro. [2]

Contents

History

The auditorium viewed from across the Clyde, also showing the Bell's Bridge linking the area to Pacific Quay Wfm foster armadillo.jpg
The auditorium viewed from across the Clyde, also showing the Bell's Bridge linking the area to Pacific Quay

Plans for a new building to increase the capacity of the SECC complex were initiated in 1994. Designed by architects Foster and Partners, construction of the 3,000 seat venue started in September 1995, and was completed in August 1997, by which time it had earned its affectionate nickname, due to the similarity of its shape to that of the animal of the same name.

Many comparisons have been made with the Sydney Opera House, although this was not the architects' inspiration for the design, which was in fact an interlocking series of ship's hulls, in reference to the Clyde's shipbuilding heritage.

The building is approximately 40 metres (131 feet) tall and has become one of the most recognisable on Clydeside and an iconic image of Glasgow. It is connected by passageways to the SEC Centre, and the Crowne Plaza hotel for easy access and exit for performers.

Events

The building has held events, such as the Scottish auditions of Britain's Got Talent 2008 to 2010 where Singer Susan Boyle was discovered, [3] the auditions for the first four editions of The X Factor [ citation needed ] and the Hugo Award ceremony during Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention.[ citation needed ]

The building served as the venue for the weightlifting competitions of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow.[ citation needed ] In the season of Christmas, the Armadillo is used for pantomimes.[ citation needed ].

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow</span> Largest city in Scotland

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The city is the third-most populous city in the United Kingdom and the 27th-most populous city in Europe. In 2022, it had an estimated population as a defined locality of 632,350 and anchored an urban settlement of 1,028,220. The economy of Glasgow is the largest of any city or region in Scotland's economy, and the city's economic strength is reflected in its membership of the Core Cities Group.

SEC or Sec may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Royal Concert Hall</span> Concert hall in Glasgow City, Scotland, UK

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is a concert and arts venue located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned by Glasgow City Council and operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEC Centre</span> Exhibition centre in Glasgow, Scotland

The SEC Centre is Scotland's largest exhibition centre, located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the three main venues within the Scottish Event Campus.

The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art. In 2009 Glasgow was awarded the title UNESCO Creative City of Music in recognition of its vibrant live music scene and its distinguished heritage. Glasgow has three major universities, each involved in creative and literary arts, and the city has the largest public reference library in Europe in the form of the Mitchell Library. Scotland's largest newspapers and national television and radio companies are based in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnieston</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde roughly between the city's West End and the city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelvin Hall</span>

The Kelvin Hall, located on Argyle Street in Glasgow, Scotland, is one of the largest exhibition centres in Britain and now a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition venue in 1927. It has also been used as a concert hall, home to the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena to 2014, and from 1988 to 2010, Glasgow's Museum of Transport. As part of the economic redevelopment of Greater Glasgow promoted by the Scottish Development Agency and local authorities to enhance the city's tourist infrastructure and to attract further national and international conferences, the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre was designed as the Hall's successor for exhibitions and entertainments, built in 1983 and opened on the nearby Queen's Dock in 1985 with an exhibition area equal in size to the Kelvin Hall but with the benefit of extensive car parks and land for other complementary buildings. The Hall is protected as a category B listed building, and is served by city bus services and by Kelvinhall subway station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Harbour</span>

Glasgow Harbour in the following paragraphs is about a private sector urban regeneration scheme at Partick in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is not the history and development of the wider and internationally famous Glasgow Harbour from Glasgow Green to Clydebank which developed from the early 1800s and witnessed the birth and growth of modern shipbuilding and shipping.

An armadillo is a mammal with an armored shell.

Waterfront Hall Conference and entertainment centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast Waterfront is a multi-purpose conference and entertainment centre, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. The hall is located in Lanyon Place, the flagship development of the Laganside Corporation. The development is named after the architect Charles Lanyon.

<i>Britains Got Talent</i> Televised British talent competition

Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was suspended in the wake of a dispute between ITV and the programme's originally planned host. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OVO Hydro</span> Multi-purpose indoor arena in Glasgow, Scotland

The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clyde Waterfront Regeneration</span>

The 20 km long Clyde Waterfront Regeneration, launched in 2003, embraced a section of the River Clyde in Scotland that runs from Glasgow Green in the city's center to Dumbarton down river. This scene focussed on earlier initiatives underway from the 1980s, and as a separate marketing tool, with several local authorities involved, came to an end in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Glasgow</span>

The city of Glasgow, Scotland is particularly noted for its 19th-century Victorian architecture, and the early-20th-century "Glasgow Style", as developed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Boyle</span> Scottish singer (born 1961)

Susan Magdalane Boyle is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of Britain's Got Talent, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. As of 2021, Boyle has sold 25 million records. Her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream (2009), is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, having sold over 10 million copies worldwide, and it was the best-selling album internationally in 2009. In 2011, Boyle made UK music history by becoming the first female artist to achieve three successive albums debut at No.1 in less than two years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Stand Comedy Club</span> British chain of stand-up comedy venues

The Stand Comedy Club is a chain of three stand-up comedy venues in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle upon Tyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowne Plaza Glasgow</span> Hotel in Scotland

Crowne Plaza Glasgow is a high-rise hotel in the Finnieston area of Glasgow, Scotland. Originally opened in 1989, it is a 4-star property on the banks of the River Clyde adjacent to the SEC Centre, the SEC Armadillo and the OVO Hydro. The building, is frequently used as one of the most recognisable images of the modern Clydeside.

This article lists the Venues of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Dance Organisation</span> Europes largest street dance organisation

United Dance Organisation (UDO) is a street dance organisation. It has around 85,000 members across 30 countries including Australia, the UAE, Germany, Japan, USA, Thailand, New Zealand, Belgium, the Netherlands, and some in Africa. It was founded in 2002 by Simon Dibley (CEO).

References

  1. "All change as SECC is renamed the Scottish Event Campus". Evening Times. Newsquest (Herald & Times). 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  2. SEC Armadillo www.whatsonglasgow.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  3. "Susan Boyle in return to Glasgow venue where Britain's Got Talent journey began". 21 January 2020.