A few months ago, we mentioned potential plans to change the Paris skyline. Now the first project, is moving into more serious planning stages.

Indeed, Paris council has unveiled plans for a 50-storey glass pyramid following an official decision in July to break the ban on buildings higher than 37m.

Proposals for the Projet Triangle, designed by Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron (who designed the Olympic stadium in Beijing), include offices, a conference centre and a 400-bed hotel as well as restaurants, cafes and gardens.

The scheme, at Porte de Versailles in the south of the French capital, would be 180m tall (590 feet), making it the third tallest building in Paris after the Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower.

With a base of almost 200 metres in length, the buildings long footprint will be exploited by with a range of retail outlets set to litter it and animate the ground level turning it into a bustling landmark.

The tower will run on solar and wind power and is set for completion in 2012 but right now the scheme is more a concept than a firm proposal and is likely to change radically, not least because the developer is unsure whether it will even have a hotel option included or be entirely offices.

If the office option is eventually plumped for, it would accommodate up to 5,000 workers.