It’s one of Swindon town centre’s most prominent buildings and has been something of an eyesore for years.

But Falcon House - the former office block above the empty Debenhams building and overlooking Fleming Way - could be given a much more residential appearance now a plan put forward by LHS Ltd has been approved.

The top five floors of the building are being converted into 65 flats, and LHS Ltd has been given permission to change the outside of those floors so its appearance is more in keeping with its new purpose.

Instead of the rows of plate glass windows, separated by pale, now rather discoloured, boards, the company proposes to make the windows of the flats smaller, and to run strips of brickwork vertically to break up the visual appearance of the top storeys.

The approved proposal shows three different patterns of brickwork from yellow bricks to a blend of red and darker blocks and one strip will feature some bricks in relief, standing out from the main strip.

Some of the windows will also feature guardrails, allowing the full length of the window to be safely opened for

The successful application put in by LHS Ltd said: “There can be little doubt that the existing building is highly visible from a significant area given a substantial height and brutalist concrete style architecture.

“Any external alterations to the upper floors of this building will therefore be significantly visible from both the immediate context and wider area.

“In this respect the proposed external alterations whilst giving this building a more residential appearance at upper floors would result in a more attractive approach to its external appearance and sit well with both within the character of the immediate and indeed wider area.

“The design approach adopted and as set out on the proposed plans would not only result in a building of a good standard of design but also one that would continue to sit successfully within its context.”

The borough council’s urban design officer could not have disagreed more: “An unacceptable façade form response that fails to convincingly relate to the existing Falcon House and the overall building. Therefore, arguably the proposal negatively changes the current brutalist identity.”

The officer said that adding the vertical brick panels on the top half of the building left a confusing impression when the bottom half would retain its current appearance: “This concludes in a façade that has a clashing emphasis overall. In particular, the northern elevation therefore reads as confusing, unattractive and negatively impacts the existing identity of the building.”

Despite this, the borough council has approved the plan.