SSE Hydro

Structural Designer

Arup

Client Name

Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre

Location

Glasgow, United Kingdom

MULTIDISCIPLINARY ENGINEER:
Arup

ARCHITECT:
Foster + Partners

PROJECT MANAGER:
Turner & Townsend

QUANTITY SURVEYOR:
Gardiner & Theobald

ACOUSTICS:
Sandy Brown Associates

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT:
Ian White Associates

MAIN CONTRACTOR:
Lend Lease

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The SSE Hydro is Scotland’s largest entertainment venue. The arena’s 12,500 capacity auditorium provides a combination of fixed, retractable and removable seating to enable a wide range of different staging and concert layouts. The distinctive amphitheatre form was generated to provide the best view of the stage from every seat. Suspended from the underside of the roof is one of the largest lighting rigs in the world, used to support sound systems for performing artists. The façade lighting consists of a colour LED scheme with 16 million possible colour combinations.

Judge's comment:
The judges were impressed with the parametric modelling techniques used to generate the complex geometry and the innovative assembly method used to raise the roof. The SSE Hydro was ranked as the second busiest entertainment arena in the world in its first year of operation by industry experts Pollstar – a fantastic achievement!