Castello del Sole

History

Delivered in November 1991 by the builder and developer Elias Victor Nigrii, Castello del Sole belongs to the vintage in which the house established its presence in Higienópolis: Italian names, large floor plans and one apartment per slab. It is the work of the same firm that signs Castelbiancoi, Edifício Dorchesteri, Dante Alighierii and Palazzo Realei — a family-run construction company, active since 1979, that combines design and development under the same roof and has concentrated more than sixty developments in practically the same quadrant of the city.

• Concept: short verticality and minimal density — eight floors for seven families, on a 1,299 m² plot.
• Trivia: the building has two natures within the same tower. From the 1st to the 6th floor there are six identical units of 315 m² of private area; the 7th and 8th are a single thing, a duplex penthouse of 632 m² of private area and 1,221 m² of total area — practically double the standard apartment, with one extra parking space. There is also an address curiosity: the postcode on Rua Ceará is registered under Consolação by the postal service, but the condominium itself declares itself in Higienópolis in the Federal Revenue register, and that is how the block is read, sold and lived.

Architecture and aesthetics

A short, wide tower, eight floors, one apartment per floor — the format that Elias Victor Nigrii repeated in Higienópolis with variations of name and size. With only one unit per slab, the lift opens into each family’s private hall and the floor plan occupies the entire floor, with no shared wall or ventilation shaft between neighbours. The ratio between plot and height is generous for the neighbourhood’s standard: 1,299 m² of land for an eight-floor tower leaves setback and garden space where a contemporary development would place more private area. The architectural authorship is not credited in any public source and, for that reason, is not attributed here.

Aesthetics and scarcity

Technical specifications

Towers and units

1 tower, 8 floors, 7 units, 1 apartment per floor. From the 1st to the 6th floor, six standard units; the 7th and 8th form a single duplex penthouse.

Sizes

315 m² of private area and 700 m² of total area in the standard units; 632 m² private and 1,221 m² total in the duplex penthouse. The archive in circulation records the penthouse advertised with 4 suites.

Parking

4 in the standard units; 5 in the penthouse.

Structural highlights

one apartment per floor with a private hall; 1,299 m² plot; duplex penthouse occupying two entire floors.

Registry and parameters

plot 1,299 m² · 1 tower · 8 floors · 7 units · 1 apartment per floor · private areas of 315 m² and 632 m² · total areas of 700 m² and 1,221 m² · 4 to 5 parking spaces · handover in November 1991.

Leisure and facilities

• Pool
• Gym
• Sauna
• Playground
• Function room

Location and surroundings

Points of interest · distances in metres

Higienópolis: the address

Two names for the same address

The plot sits on the border between Higienópolis and Consolação, and both names are valid. The postcode registers Consolação; the top-tier market treats the address as Higienópolis. This entry adopts the name in common use and keeps the other for those searching by it.

Rua Ceará crosses the stretch of Higienópolisi that runs from Avenida Angélica to the neighbourhood’s residential core — a network of modern 1950s and 1960s buildings that today is heritage in fact, even where it is not by law, and which for that reason does not become something else. Nearby are Parque Buenos Airesi, Shopping Pátio Higienópolisi, Praça Vilaboim, FAAP, Mackenzie and the row of traditional schools that makes the neighbourhood an address for families who choose a school before choosing a house. Hospital Sírio-Libanêsi and Avenida Paulistai are minutes away.