| Scottish Hydro Arena | |
|---|---|
| Former names | Scotland's National Arena National Entertainments Arena |
| Location | Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Queen's Dock Glasgow Scotland |
| Broke ground | 2009 |
| Owner | SEC Ltd. |
| Architect | Foster and Partners |
| Structural engineer | Arup |
| Capacity | 12,000 |
The Scottish Hydro Arena, is an arena in Glasgow, Scotland currently under construction. It is planned for completion in 2013 at an estimated cost of £125 million. It has been designed by architects Foster and Partners. The building will be used for concerts and other entertainment events and will seat 12,000. It will therefore be the largest purpose built indoor arena in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK after the MEN Arena in Manchester, The O2 Arena in London, the Sheffield Arena, the LG Arena in Birmingham. The venue is planned to be used for the Netball and Gymnastics events during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The main reason for the building is due to the current lack of a dedicated high capacity indoor events space in Glasgow. Scotland's biggest indoor events space is currently Hall 4 in the SECC which can hold 12,000. However, due to this also being used for exhibitions, the time taken to reconfigure the required seating when needed, lost the SECC 70 days every year. It is hoped that this building will provide an alternative to Hall 4.
The arena has the potential to inject an additional £131 million per annum into the local economy and create 1,400 jobs. The current economic impact of the SECC is £336 million per annum with 1.5 million visitors a year.[1]
Like the neighbouring Clyde Auditorium, the arena has been designed from the inside out. Visitors will enjoy direct sightlines from each of the 12,000 seats and the acoustics will be of the highest standard. In June 2011, a £15m ten year sponsorship agreement was signed between SEC Ltd and Scottish and Southern Energy, which will see the arena officially named as the Scottish Hydro Arena.[2]