The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) has launched a fundraising appeal to help finance a new £22.5m arts training and performance complex in Cardiff.

Cardiff Council approved planning permission for the scheme in September, and the college is now seeking to raise £3.5m from donors with 80 per cent of the project's funding already in place, including a £10m contribution from the Welsh Assembly Government. Plans for the development, which were drawn up by the London-based architects, Hamiltons, include a 450-seat concert hall, a 160-seat theatre, drama rehearsal studios and a new exhibition gallery.

The proposed buildings will help to establish a new entrance to the college from the city's North Road, with a public foyer overlooking the neighbouring Bute Park. The new drama wing and concert hall, together with the college's existing Bute Theatre, will also be linked by a public space under a unifying roof. Patron of the RWCMD fundraising campaign, opera singer Bryn Terfel, said: "Over the last decade Cardiff has been transformed and has a new sense of purpose. These facilities will create a new gateway to Wales' capital city, and will complement the great performing venues we already have."