The Armadillo & the SECC
Friday, 26th May 2006 by Alex Turnbull
This is the Armadillo in Glasgow.
Oh all right, it's really the Clyde Auditorium, but everyone calls it the Armadillo. It was designed to be a 3,000 seat extension to the boxy beige building to the north - the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, which was the largest exhibition hall in the whole of the UK anyway.
Obviously comparisions have been made between the design of the Cylde Auditorium and that of the Sydney Opera House, and yet the architects, Foster and Partners, claim it wasn't the inspiration for the design.
I agree, it looks more like they just stole it outright. 😉
Thanks to Tom.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
I go to the University of North Texas and we have a very similar armadillo audatorium.
The car park to the east is exactly the same shape as the auditorium. The whole area is full of great sights, with the tall ship to the west, the science centre and glasgow tower accross the river, the Glasgow crane to the east which is a relic of the ship building era and now a landmark, and the north and south rotundas which are actually the entrance and exits to the old clyde tunnel which was for pedestrians and carriages. It closed in the 1980’s. Enjoy