Work has started to appoint a design team to draw up plans for a new £250 million concert hall in London.

The multi-million pound Centre for Music scheme involves creating a new modern building of acoustic and visual excellence in the centre of the city.

Overall, the Centre will contain a world-class concert hall, education, training and digital spaces, facilities for audiences and performers, and significant supporting commercial areas. The development will be built on the site of the Museum of London once the Museum relocates to a larger site at London's Smithfield Market.

The City of London Corporation has now started the procurement process to appoint the following roles to develop concept designs, with support from project partners the Barbican, London Symphony Orchestra and Guildhall School of Music & Drama;


• Architect

• Building Service Engineer

• Civil & Structural Engineer

• Acoustician

• Theatre Consultant

The design will form part of the detailed business case to be submitted to the City of London Corporation in December 2018, with the organisation providing up to £2.5m in funding to help complete the detailed business case.

Dr Andrew Parmley, Lord Mayor of the City of London, said: "We support the ambitious plans for a Centre for Music at the heart of the City of London, one of the finest cultural hubs in the world. This vibrant area has supported creativity and innovation to flourish across every sector and helped secure London's position as the pre-eminent financial centre.

"Visually striking, acoustically perfect and open to all, a new Centre for Music – facing St. Paul's Cathedral, Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern – would be an important investment in the strength of the Square Mile and our neighbouring communities."

(LM/MH)