The OVO Hydro, Glasgow
The OVO Hydro designed by Foster + Partners is a multi-purpose indoor arena located on the site of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow, Scotland.
Since opening in September 2013, the 12,000 seat arena has hosted numerous music, sporting and comedy events including Rod Stewart, U2, Adele, MTV Europe Music Awards and a key venue during the 2014 Commonwealth Games. With over 140 events every year, attracting over one million visitors each year, the venue is consistently ranked in the top three busiest arenas globally.
The Arena provides a combination of fixed, retractable and removable seating with a flexible, motorised draping system to enable a wide range of different staging and concert layouts .
CLIENT: SECC LTD
COMPLETION DATE: 2013
CAPACITY: 12,000
PROJECT COST: £125M
The building’s form is generated from the inside-out by the seating, which wraps around the stage above ground level and rises toward the front, optimising the viewing angle and drawing the audience closer to the excitement of the performance.
Vanguardia were appointed to enhance the acoustics within the arena bowl. Surfaces creating unwanted reflections were identified and treated with acoustic absorption panels. Low frequency sound decay times have been controlled by the introduction of large “bass-traps”.
A permanent in-house L-Acoustics KARA delay system has been designed allowing productions to plug in and provide high quality audio coverage to the upper seating tiers.