Bristol’s Mayor, George Ferguson, has announced a shortlist of five experienced design teams for the building of 12,000 capacity Bristol Arena, located in the city’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.

The announcement of the shortlisted design teams followed a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) International Design Competition that was launched in August.

Over 30 teams from across the world, expressed interest in designing the cultural venue that will be located close to Bristol Temple Meads Station and is due to open towards the end of 2017.

The multi-disciplinary teams include architects and engineers and all have experience of delivering major venues in the UK or overseas. They will now work on their design proposals for the Bristol Arena which will be submitted in January 2015.

A public exhibition of all five design proposals will take place in January prior to a decision being made in March.

Mayor George Ferguson said: “I am confident that the new arena will provide one of the very best experiences for audiences and major acts and that it will make a huge contribution to the regeneration of the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.

“This takes us a couple of major steps closer to a 2017 delivery of this much needed venue for the city region.”

Colin Skellet Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership said:“The level of interest in the new arena is excellent, with a strong shortlist of design teams demonstrating the extent of the ambition.

This important development will bring economic benefits, jobs and growth to the city region.”

The Bristol Arena is due to open towards the end 2017 and will be located in the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.