Belfast's new £18m Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) remains on track to open its doors to the public "early next year", according to Northern Ireland arts minister Carál Ní Chuilín.

Located in the city's Cathedral Quarter, the venue will replace the Old Museum Arts Centre and has received £10.76m from the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). Facilities will comprise two black box performance spaces with seating capacity for 120 and 350 spectators respectively; three visual art galleries; and a dance studio.

A new education workshop; rehearsal spaces; offices for resident arts groups; and a bar will also form part of the complex, which has also received local authority and Arts Council support. Speaking on a visit to the new six-storey venue, Ní Chuilín said: "The MAC will also provide an artistic programme of the highest quality reflecting and exploring issues relevant to the socially diverse communities across the North."

MAC chief executive Anne McReynolds added: "The MAC is a visible and physical demonstration of what a new Belfast and a new Northern Ireland is capable of delivering when we work together." Belfast-based architects Hacker Hall McKnight was selected to design the complex after a design competition held by OMAC and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).