Kelvin Hall, Glasgow

The Kelvin Hall, located on Argyle Street in Glasgow, is one of the largest exhibition centres in Britain and now a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition venue in 1927. It has also been used as a concert hall, home to the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena to 2014, and from 1987 to 2010, Glasgow's Museum of Transport.

The Kelvin Hall stands on the banks of the River Kelvin, opposite the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It was designed to complement the municipal display of Kelvingrove Park. Fronted in red sandstone with a palatial entrance piazza, the immense steel-framed building dates from 1927.

Its predecessor on part of the site, also known as the Kelvin Hall, was constructed on the cinder-based football areas of the Bunhouse Grounds as a temporary hall using brick, wood and iron, and was opened in August 1918 to house the second British Industries Fair in the city. The new structure was designed by Robert James Walker, the leading architect of the Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry of 1911 held in Kelvingrove Park.

From 1918 and 1919 until the Hall was destroyed by fire in 1925, British Industry Fairs and various exhibitions, were held, also flower shows, circuses and carnivals, with the surpluses being paid into the Common Good. The new Kelvin Hall covers 6 acres and was designed to house large-scale exhibitions and events. It was built for Glasgow Corporation in 1926-1927 and was designed by Thomas Somers Glasgow's Master of Work and City Engineer.

The redeveloped Kelvin Hall hosts art, cultural and health and fitness activities promoted in a partnership of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life, the University of Glasgow, and the National Library of Scotland. The Hall is protected as a category B listed building.