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A contractor has been appointed to take Hereford’s new museum and art gallery up to the building stage.

Herefordshire Council, which is overseeing the project, now likely to cost up to £22 million, has commissioned London-based consultancy and construction firm Mace “to provide project management, design, quantity surveying and contract management services”, valued at £215,000.

This would take the project up to “RIBA stage 4b”. RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects, describes stage 4 as being “about developing the information required to manufacture and construct the building” – which then forms stage 5.

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“If this work is not commissioned, a principle [sic] contractor cannot be procured or managed and the project will stall,” a record of the council’s decision warned.

The council’s cabinet member for assets Coun Harry Bramer said last month that this next stage will determine the likely final cost of the Victorian building’s transformation, which has been creeping up, adding: “It is likely that we will then revise where and how the available budget is spent.”

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In June the council also appointed Mace to oversee redevelopment of the city’s Shirehall, where another of the “Stronger Hereford” projects, the creation of a new library and learning centre for the city, is under way.

In May the council also appointed Cheshire-based Mather & Co to oversee the content of the new museum and gallery, in order “to create an engaging and innovative visitor experience”, and named Emmalee Beddoes as curator of the project.

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She told a recent Stronger Hereford board meeting that the new attraction will have a different focus from season to season, with “exhibitions of world-class art and historic objects, reinterpreted through the unique perspectives of Herefordshire” in spring, “joyful exhibitions to meet a wide public interest, inspiring everyday creativity” in summer, and “ambitious, experiential art exhibitions (by) established artists” in autumn.

A report for the board said contactors to carry out the actual building work are due to be appointed in February.

The museum and art gallery project has a target of drawing 200,000 visitors and 100 schools per year. Both it and the library are due to open in 2026.