Graham Reid

Locals call it “the Armadillo” but it's a rather obvious name for the striking building by the River Clyde, once the heart of Glasgow shipbuilding. With a suspicious similarity to a more squat Sydney Opera House, the Armadillo huddles almost fearfully in the shadow the enormous, now redundant, Finnieston Crane, a muscular reminder of the city's industrial past.

Designed by a son of this city, Sir Norman Foster – also responsible for London's “Gherkin” and the poetically beautiful bridge at Millau in France – the Armadillo, in reality the Clyde Auditorium, is one of many fascinating buildings in this Scottish city which will host the 2014 Commonwealth Games...