Five studios have been shortlisted to design a major extension to Manchester’s Hallé St Peter’s music venue; adding extra rehearsal, performance and education space to the Grade II listed former church building in the UK.

Caruso St John; Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios; Flanagan Lawrence; Jamie Fobert Architects’ and Stephenson Studio beat off competition from 37 other firms across the UK and Europe in the RIBA-organised contest.

The extension will be used by the Hallé Concerts Society, which owns the existing mid-19th Century building. Choirs, orchestras and other ensembles will use the new space to prepare for concerts and performances and run outreach programmes.

In selecting the shortlist, the competition panel reflected on the need for the designs to reference the architectural heritage of the former cotton mill area of the city. The architects’ visions also had to interact with the existing ecclesiastical architecture, consolidate an adjacent urban square and be “refreshing rather than derivative.”

The five shortlisted firms will be invited to present their design proposals to the panel in early February 2016.