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Opened in 1997 and designed by Foster and Partners. The Clyde auditorium is a 3000 seater auditorium sited beside the SECC on the north bank of the River Clyde. Nicknamed the Armadillo the design is meant to echo a series of interlocking ship's hulls. In reality whilst being a building of note and fulfilling the idea of a 'signature' building, one wonders whether it is more than just an architectural gimmick in terms of being just a form placed beside the Clyde which happily adorns postcards of Glasgow. Nicknamed the armadillo, it is windowless and secretive, it's form doing nothing to inform the viewer of it's function. Once inside it is hard to imagine what the outer envelope could be as the interior seems to bear no relation to the exterior. The tubular steelwork at time creates ugly junctions as whilst one may expect such a simple form to have an inherently simple and elegant structure, in reality the demands of the interior denies this.
On a positive note, it does as mentioned provide a role as an architectural pin-up and successfully function as an auditorium, but for those hoping to find a Foster building of significance this is not it."
Source: http://www.architectureglasgow.co.uk/newcity.armadillo.html