This huge new tower planned beside the M4 in Chiswick has replaced controversial proposals for an LED-advert-shrouded office block there, dubbed the Octopus.

Developer Galliard has confirmed long-running rumours it had ditched the £120m 50m-tall Octopus building in favour of plans for high-rise housing at the Chiswick Roundabout site.

The firm said it had paid more than £15m, in conjunction with Cain Hoy and ARV Investments, to buy out London & Bath Estates, which had co-owned the 0.5-acre site, so it could forge ahead with its new proposals.

The planned new building was previously reported to be 140m-tall, making it easily Hounslow's highest structure, and to include more than 400 flats.

Galliard said it would meet with local planners before deciding upon the precise height and number of homes, but this image suggests those figures are not far from the mark.

The developer said it had ditched plans for offices as there was already sufficient provision locally and the demand for housing in the area was much greater. It hopes to submit detailed plans for the new 'Tricorn Tower' this autumn.

Stephen Conway, chairman and chief executive of Galliard Homes, said: "We believe that a premium residential-led project on this gateway site in west London will be commercially viable due to the continuing lack of new housing being provided across Greater London.

"The west London economy has emerged from the recession so these are particularly exciting times for Hounslow and Chiswick.

"There is an ongoing demand for new homes in the capital and so we are looking at devising plans that will meet local needs and assist with the regeneration that is occurring across the whole area."

How the 'Octopus' would have looked

The Octopus, which got its nickname from the building's bulbous body and tentacle-like base, was granted planning permission in 2011 despite concerns drivers would be distracted by the giant billboards wrapped around its exterior.

Marie Rabouhans, chairman of the West Chiswick & Gunnersbury Society, said she was glad plans for the Octopus had been ditched but was concerned about the height of the proposed new tower and felt the location was unsuitable for housing.

"A really tall tower would not just have a visual impact on the residential communities, it would affect the view from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew," she told getwestlondon.

"The site is a busy traffic island, which is one of the borough's hot spots for pollution, so it's not right to build homes there.

"This type of building might be right for central London but not for Chiswick, where it would be completely incongruous."