The\u00a0SSE\u00a0Hydro,\u00a0Scotland\u2019s new home of live entertainment\u00a0was revealed to the world\u2019s media on\u00a0Thursday, 26 September 2013<\/b>. \u00a0SEC Ltd Chief Executive Officer, John Sharkey,\u00a0a host of stakeholdersand rising local talent, Admiral Fallow,\u00a0gathered at thenew arena\u00a0ahead of Rod Stewart\u2019s opening concert on Monday 30 September 2013.<\/p>\n
Designed by world-renowned architects Foster\u00a0+Partners, The SSE Hydro has a seated capacity of 12,000, rising to 13,000 with a seated and standing configuration. \u00a0The 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.<\/p>\n
The SSE Hydro has transformed the 64-acre site at the SECC into a complete exhibition, conference and entertainments complex of significant national scale. \u00a0Standing at 45m high and modelled on Greek and Roman amphitheatres, it has become the newest landmark on Glasgow’s skyline.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
There will be a range of food and drink outlets and hospitality options including a club seating area and\u00a0VIP boxes. \u00a0By night, visitors to the venue will be greeted by its\u00a0distinctive, translucent skin (ETFE) which can\u00a0glow\u00a012.8\u00a0million different colours or have images projected directly on to\u00a0the\u00a0surface.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0SSE\u00a0Hydro is one of the first major developments to be\u00a0completed in the SECC\u00a0QD2 master plan and has the potential to inject an additional \u00a3131 million per annum into the local economy. (The current economic impact of the SECC is \u00a3347million per annum with 1.5 million visitors a year.)\u00a0\u00a0The venue will also play an integral role in\u00a0The\u00a0Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games\u00a0as\u00a0the home for both gymnastics and the netball finals.<\/p>\n
John Sharkey, Chief\u00a0Executive\u00a0Officer, SEC Ltd commented:<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding our new arena has been a very complex project, and hugely challenging.\u00a0 However, we are delighted to be entering the final stage of this journey today.\u00a0 Our calendar for 2013 through to 2014 is filling up fast and will provide fans with the eclectic mix of world class events that The SSE Hydro was built to accommodate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project team, funding partners, Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise and sponsor partners including SSE can be proud to have played a part in delivering a unique and iconic entertainment space for Scotland which will be the envy of Europe if not the world\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sir Ian Grant, Chairman, SEC Ltd added:<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a magnificent addition to the SECC Campus. The importance of The SSE Hydro and its global significance shouldn\u2019t be underestimated with an expected audience of over 1million visitors annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to expanding our capacity and being able to attract the world\u2019s biggest stars and global sporting events we have also created more availability in the existing SECC halls which in turn will generate more exhibition and conference bookings\u00a0and economic impact for\u00a0the local economy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said:<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opening of The SSE Hydro is a landmark for Glasgow, and further cements our reputation as an international destination.\u00a0 We can all look forward to welcoming many of the world\u2019s greatest entertainers and performers to this state of the art venue.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201dOf course, The SSE Hydro will next summer be\u00a0one of the city\u2019s venues for The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, and I am sure our visitors will be impressed by such a fantastic arena.\u00a0 It will play a major economic role for Glasgow in the coming decades, attracting concerts, conferences and events of a standing matched by very few venues, even on an international scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
External Affairs Minister Humza Yousaf commented:<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0SSE\u00a0Hydro is an exciting new addition to Glasgow, which will attract thousands of visitors from Scotland and far beyond when it opens its doors this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis venue will not only act as a magnet for music fans but come 2014 will showcase global sporting talent as a venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games gymnastics, boxing and netball finals.\u00a0Scotland is gearing up for 2014 and is organising what will be the greatest Games ever. First class venues such as the Hydro will help us reap the economic opportunities of the Games as well as deliver lasting economic benefits for the local economy for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian Gillespie,\u00a0Managing\u00a0Director at Scottish Enterprise, said:<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWith the addition of The SSE Hydro, Scotland has a unique combination of exhibition centre, conference centre and arena all within the Creative Clyde area.\u00a0 This is vital for growing our tourism industry, with the Hydro alone expected to generate an extra \u00a356 million in visitor spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlasgow is now one of only a handful of European cities capable of hosting large-scale international conferences which attract business tourists.\u00a0 Business tourists stay longer, spend 50% more than a leisure tourist, and tend to travel around Scotland, which is great news for Scotland\u2019s tourism businesses as these visitors can fuel business growth and new tourism products.\u00a0 This is why we\u2019ve contributed \u00a325 million to the Hydro build, our largest grant awarded to date, which will generate \u00a37 for the Scottish economy for every \u00a31 we contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wendy Barbour, SSE Director of Commonwealth Games and Sponsorship\u00a0said:<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cThe opening of The SSE Hydro is a historic moment for Glasgow and for Scotland and it also marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for SSE as we enter our first year as title sponsor of this wonderful new venue. We are very much looking forward to offering our customers access to a range of exclusive benefits associated with the venue including a 48-hour pre-sale through our brand new customer reward scheme SSE Reward and we are proud to support live entertainment in Scotland through our investment in The SSE Hydro.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gordon Anderson, executive general manager of Lend Lease\u00a0commented:<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud to have handed over\u00a0The SSE Hydro to SEC Ltd, completed and on schedule. This magnificent building has been a highly complex feat of engineering, and its completion is testimony to the dedication of the Lend Lease team and of our whole supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spencer de Grey, Head of Design, Foster + Partners\u00a0said:<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWith its vast steel roof and capacity for 13,000, this is the largest performance arena that the practice has designed \u2013 operationally, it allows performers a great deal of freedom in staging events, and visually, its form helps to capture the excitement of a concert. We were delighted to have the opportunity to work with SECC once again, almost 18 years since we were first commissioned to design the Clyde Auditorium. The SSE Hydro has been a great team effort and it is fantastic to see the arena come to life for its first concert.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The post Say Hello to the SSE Hydro<\/a> appeared first on Exhibition Industry News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The\u00a0SSE\u00a0Hydro,\u00a0Scotland\u2019s new home of live entertainment\u00a0was revealed to the world\u2019s media on\u00a0Thursday, 26 September 2013. \u00a0SEC Ltd Chief Executive Officer, John Sharkey,\u00a0a host of stakeholdersand rising local talent, Admiral Fallow,\u00a0gathered at thenew arena\u00a0ahead of Rod Stewart\u2019s opening concert on Monday 30 September 2013. Designed by world-renowned architects Foster\u00a0+Partners, The SSE Hydro has a seated capacity […]<\/p>\n The post Say Hello to the SSE Hydro<\/a> appeared first on Exhibition Industry News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world-news"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n