The SEC Centre (originally known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre until 2017) is

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

's largest

exhibition centre A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

, located in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. It is one of the three main venues within the Scottish Event Campus. Since the opening of the original buildings in 1985, the complex has undergone two major expansions; the first being the

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

in 1997, and then the

OVO Hydro The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland, and is the largest entertainment venue in Scotland. The arena was initially named The Hydro after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro El ...

in 2013. The venue's holding company SEC Limited, is 91% owned by

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

and 9% owned by private investors. It is probably best known for hosting concerts, particularly in Hall 4 and Hall 3.

Development history

The

Scottish Development Agency Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

first supported the construction of an

in Glasgow in 1979. A site at the former Queen's Dock on the north bank of the Clyde at

Finnieston Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde roughly between the city's Glasgow#West End, West End and the Glasgow#City centre, city centre. Finnieston is home to the Scottish Exhibition and Conferen ...

, which had closed to navigation in 1969, was selected.

Land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

works started in 1982 using rubble from the demolished

St Enoch railway station St Enoch station was a mainline railway station in the city of Glasgow, Scotland between 1876 and 1966. The hotel was the first building in Glasgow to be fitted out with electric lighting. The station was demolished in 1977. History Locate ...

. The construction of the SEC Centre buildings began on the site in 1983.

Main Building

The Main Building was completed and opened in 1985, with a concert by the

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five National performing arts companies of Scotland, national performing arts compa ...

in Hall 1. It later held the Grand International Show in Hall 4 as part of the 1988

Glasgow Garden Festival The Glasgow Garden Festival was the third of the five national garden festivals, and the only one to take place in Scotland. It was held in Glasgow between 26 April and 26 September 1988. It was the first event of its type to be held in the cit ...

. In 1990, the SEC Centre was one of the hubs of Glasgow's year as European City of Culture. Upon its opening, the Centre quickly gained its nickname from the local press and thus to general usage, "The Big Red Shed", owing to its outward appearance, which resembled a giant red painted warehouse. The nickname became redundant after the Main Building was expanded and painted grey in 1997. The SEC Centre occupies 64 acres (260,000 m²) of land – most of which is surface car parking space – and hosts numerous music concerts, exhibitions and professional conferences. The SEC Centre also has its own railway station,

Exhibition Centre A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

, on the

Argyle Line The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. The line serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow's Argyl ...

of Glasgow's suburban railway network. The 16 storey Forum Hotel (now part of the

Crowne Plaza Crowne Plaza is a British multinational chain of full service, upscale hotels headquartered in the United Kingdom. It caters to business travelers and the meetings and conventions market. It forms part of the InterContinental Hotels Group family ...

chain) was opened on the site in 1989. In September 1996, a new exhibition hall, Hall 3, was opened.

SEC Armadillo

In September 1995, construction began on a new building – the

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

– to become part of the SECC complex. Designed by award-winning architect

Sir Norman Foster ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

and often called "the

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

" by Glaswegians, this new 3,000 capacity building was completed in August 1997.

Queens Dock 2 expansion

In April 2004, the owners SEC Ltd again commissioned

Foster and Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide. ...

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 incorporated

, a 12,500 seat, £50 million concert arena for the SECC, which opened as "SSE Hydro" in September 2013.

Shows and events

The venue hosted the

Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 The Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 was the second and final edition of the Eurovision Dance Contest and was held in Glasgow, Scotland, hosted by the BBC on 6 September. The presenters were, as in the previous edition, Graham Norton and Claudia Wi ...

. The SECC hosted the

Girls' Day Out Show The Girls' Day Out Show is an event primarily for women who enjoy fashion, lifestyle and beauty. It is a similar concept to The Clothes Show Live. It was founded in 2009 and has been a growing convention every year, attracting over 16,000 visitor ...

in 2009, 2010 and 2012. It staged The Scottish Golf Show in 2009 and 2010. The venue annually stages the popular

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Good Food Show. On 15 November 2015, it played host to

Insane Championship Wrestling Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) is a professional wrestling promotion based in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Mark Dallas in 2006. It mixes elements of traditional sports entertainment with hardcore wrestling; thus admittance is restricted ...

's biggest show of the year, ''Fear & Loathing VIII''. The SEC Centre hosted the

World Science Fiction convention Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

twice, as Intersection, the 53rd World Science Fiction convention in 1995, and Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in 2005 (including the

). In June 2012, Irish pop band

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

were honoured with four specially commissioned bar stools (to be a permanent fixture at the venue) to mark 49 performances at the SEC Centre where they entertained over 380,000 fans over the years, selling more tickets than any other act.

NHS Louisa Jordan

The SEC Centre hosted the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

. Originally scheduled to be held in 2020, the conference was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Due to the same pandemic, the SEC Centre was turned into a COVID-19 critical care hospital under the name NHS Louisa Jordan, and run by

NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

. Initially (as of April 8, 2020), it had capacity for 300 beds, with an expansion to over 1,000 if needed. The venue was never used for COVID-19 critical care and was instead used for medical appointments, blood donations, staff training and COVID-19 vaccinations. Work began in July 2021 to prepare it for hosting the rescheduled Climate Change Conference in October and November 2021.

References

External links

Official website
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