The SSE Hydro, Scotland's new home of live entertainment, has taken its place alongside New York's Madison Square Garden and London's O2 Arena as one of the top five in the world.
The SSE Hydro, Scotland’s new home of live entertainment, has taken its place alongside New York’s Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena as one of the top five in the world.
Glasgow’s new venue, The SSE Hydro, is in the top five in the world
Designed by world-renowned architects Foster + Partners, The SSE Hydro has a seated capacity of 12,000, rising to 13,000 with a seated and standing configuration. The first purpose built concert venue of its scale, it will play host to around 140 events each year, including national and international artists and bands as well as being a venue for major comedy stars and sporting events.
The SSE Hydro has transformed the 64-acre site at the SECC into a complete exhibition, conference and entertainments complex of significant national scale. Standing at 45m high and modelled on Greek and Roman amphitheatres, it has become the newest landmark on Glasgow’s skyline. Designed from the inside out, visitors will enjoy excellent sightlines from the fixed, tiered and demountable seating system and the acoustics will be of the highest standard.
There are a range of food and drink outlets and hospitality options including a club seating area and VIP boxes. By night, visitors are greeted by its distinctive, translucent skin (ETFE) which can glow 12.8 million different colours or have images projected directly on to the surface.
The SSE Hydro is one of the first major developments to be completed in the SECC QD2 master plan and has the potential to inject an additional £131 million (AUD$221 million) per annum into the local economy. (The current economic impact of the SECC is £347million (AUD$583 million) per annum with 1.5 million visitors a year.) The venue will also play an integral role in The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as the home for both gymnastics and the netball finals.
