Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre

Infobox building

---

former_names = Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
architectural_style = Dome
structural_system = Steel
location = Glasgow, Scotland
owner = Glasgow City Council
completion_date = 1985
opening_date = 1985

The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), located on the north bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, is Scotland's national venue for public events. It has five main exhibition halls of area up to 10,000 m².

It is best known for hosting concerts, with concerts taking place every other night in the 12,500 seater Hall 4 and Hall 3, which has a capacity of 3,000.

Construction

The urban regeneration of the Clyde corridor, which involved the reclamation of a large amount of land from obsolete dockland areas, started in 1983 with the construction of the SECC on the site of Queen's Dock. Completed and opened in 1985 (Main Building), the SECC occupies 64 acres (260,000 m²) of land — most of which is car parking space — and hosts numerous music concerts, exhibitions and professional conferences. The SECC also has its own railway station, Exhibition Centre, on the Argyle Line of Glasgow's suburban railway network.

Upon its opening, the Centre quickly gained its nickname among locals: "The Big Red Shed", owing to its outward appearance, which resembled a giant red painted warehouse. The nickname has become redundant following the building being repainted grey in recent years.

In 1995 construction began on a new building — the Clyde Auditorium — to become part of the SECC complex. Designed by award-winning architect Sir Norman Foster and often called "the armadillo" by Glaswegians, this new 3,000 capacity building was completed in 1997.

Regeneration

In April 2004, the owners SEC Ltd again commissioned Foster and Partners to design a £562 million regeneration of the Queen's Dock area, under the name QD2 — so-called as this is the second regeneration of the former Queen's Dock area since the centre's inception. This project will incorporate a new 12,500 seat, £50 million concert arena for the SECC to be known as Scotland's National Arena, and construction of this development is expected to be completed by 2010. The centre is also to be served by the Clyde FastLink.

Major Events

The SECC hosted the second Eurovision Dance Contest on September 2008.

External links

* [http://www.secc.co.uk/ SECC web site] Official SECC Website
* [http://www.SECxtra.com/ SECxtra ticketing web site] Online SECC Ticket Office
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=glasgow+uk&ie=UTF8&ll=55.859815,-4.289088&spn=0.005371,0.014462&t=k&z=16&om=1 Aerial Map of SECC] Google Satellite Image of SECC and surrounding area
* [http://www.qd2.co.uk/ Queen's Dock regeneration project]
* [http://www.glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/secc_arena_glasgow.htm Scotland's National Arena] Plans for the new Arena
* [http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/1298/Default.aspx Arena page at Foster & Partners] Link to the Architects of the new Arena
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6455081.stm BBC report on failed Casino bid]
* [http://www.alisoneldred.com/imageJimBurns-Illustration-0-5.html Painting of SECC re-envisioned as a spaceport] by Jim Burns
* [http://www.frankwu.com/secc.html Painting of SECC re-envisioned as a spacecraft] by Frank Wu
* [http://www.pbase.com/clydebirder/secc Wildlife at the SECC] by John Molloy