A GIANT tropical hothouse could be on the cards as the showpiece of Swindon's new town centre.

Swindon Council is working on plans to build a new headquarters in the middle of town, which would include a theatre and conference centre.

The latest documents show that the preferred option is to build the civic offices near the magistrates' court.

A winter garden that would hold tropical plants all year round and be open to the public is also on the cards.

It has been inspired by a similar scheme in Sheffield.

The new offices would be included in the Promenade development being overseen by the New Swindon Company and could include a revamped Wyvern Theatre building.

The winter garden would form part of the remodelled town centre. Other plans include bringing back the canal and the Baptist Tabernacle chapel stones.

The Sheffield garden is 70m long and 22m wide with a roof built in wooden arches, which are nearly 21m high.

It was introduced as part of the city's £120m regeneration.

Inside are tropical plants, including bananas, Norfolk Island Pines and Australian eucalyptus trees.

Swindon Council's deputy leader Coun Fionuala Foley said the plans were at an early stage.

The council is looking at moving the majority of its office staff to a new building, bringing together its workers from the existing civic offices in nearby Euclid Street and Wat Tyler House, Sanford House and Premier House.

New Swindon Company chief executive Peter James said the redevelopment was being considered along with what to do with the Wyvern.

He said a winter garden would be a huge draw.

"Because it's the civic offices you would want to have the public going there," he said.

Mr James said the biggest challenge was what to do with the theatre.

He said the company and the council were looking at four options leaving the Wyvern where it is in its current state, refurbishing it, knocking it down and rebuilding it or a multiplex with two theatres.

The theatre now has 700 seats and is used for local shows. A bigger one would have 1,400 seats and could attract West End preview shows and concerts.

Mr James expects plans to be drawn up for the civic offices in the next six to nine months.

North Swindon MP Michael Wills said a winter garden sounded exciting but he would only support it if the developers, not the taxpayers, met the costs.

winterwonders

WORK on the multi award-winning Winter Garden began in 2002 following the demolition of the Town Hall extension.

It was part of Sheffield's Heart of the City' project, which is a £120m scheme to regenerate the city centre.

It is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the last 100 years.

More than 2,100 square metres of glass, 900 cubic metres of concrete and 80 tonnes of steel have been used to create the structure, which is large enough to accommodate 5,000 domestic greenhouses.

The plant beds inside the Winter Garden are filled with 400 tonnes of topsoil.

It also has an intelligent building management system, which controls the fans and vents to make sure the plants are cooled in summer and kept warm in the winter.

The system will learn' the best temperatures and combinations for the plants as the years go by.