La Roche

History

La Roche was built in 2005 on Alameda dos Tupiniquins, in the stretch where Moemai Índios meets Planalto Paulistai — flat, tree-lined blocks with generous plots, inherited from a residential subdivision that was never built up with the density of the rest of the southern zone. That legacy explains the building: fitting a regulation tennis court and a 25-metre indoor pool alongside an eighteen-storey tower required a plot the city no longer offers. The developer and the author of the architectural project are not publicly documented and are therefore not credited here.

• Concept: one family per floor in a single tower, with club-style sports facilities on the ground floor — the neighbourhood condominium programme applied to a 300 m² slab.
• Trivia: the condominium’s tennis court has regulation dimensions, and it is the first thing estate agents mention when describing the building. The pool is indoor with a 25-metre lane, and there is also a squash court — an unusual combination for an eighteen-unit residential building.

Architecture and aesthetics

A single tower, eighteen storeys, one apartment per floor. Those who describe the building classify it as neoclassical: a symmetrical façade, a marked base and a defined crown, in the vocabulary Moema adopted in the 1990s and 2000s that gives its name to half the buildings in the neighbourhood — Saint Etienne, Palais Royal, Petit Palais, Castelo Gandolfo. Privacy here comes neither from a wall nor a setback: with one unit per floor, the lift opens directly into the family’s own hall and the layout occupies the entire slab, with a four-area living room of around 120 m² and an integrated glazed balcony. The standard units have four bedrooms, all en suite, with the fifth reversible — an arrangement most residents have converted into a home office.

Aesthetics and scarcity

Technical specifications

• Towers and units: 1 tower, 18 storeys, 1 apartment per floor.
• Sizes: 300 to 308 m² in the standard layouts, with 4 bedrooms and 4 en suites (the fifth bedroom is reversible). Records in circulation also list larger units, up to 537 m².
• Parking: 5 spaces in the standard layout, independent and unassigned, plus a visitor space; up to 7 in the larger units.
• Structural highlights: private hall per floor; a living room of around 120 m² across four areas; glazed balcony integrated with the living room and a gourmet balcony next to the kitchen; full staff quarters.
• Registry and parameters: 1 tower · 18 storeys · 1 apartment per floor · 4 bedrooms · 4 en suites in the standard layout · 5 to 7 parking spaces · 5 to 7 bathrooms depending on the layout · private areas from 300 m² to 537 m² · delivered 2005.

Leisure and facilities

• Regulation-size tennis court
• Squash court
• Indoor pool with a 25-metre lane
• Children’s pool
• Sun deck
• Gym
• Sauna
• Function room
• Children’s playroom
• Playground
• Garden
• 24-hour reception with gatehouse and internal CCTV

Location and surroundings

Points of interest · distances in metres

Moema: the address

Moemai is the neighbourhood where São Paulo learned to live close to a park. The tree-lined avenues with indigenous names — Tupiniquins, Jurupis, Maracatins, Aicás — form a flat, leafy grid running down from Parque Ibirapuerai to Planalto Paulistai, and the stretch of Tupiniquins where La Roche stands is among the most residential: discreet street-level shops, few new towers, wide pavements. Everything nearby is within walking or cycling distance — Parque das Bicicletasi, Shopping Ibirapuerai, Colégio Mobilei, Clube Monte Líbanoi and Line 5-Lilac via Estação Eucaliptosi. The address has the rare distinction of sitting in two neighbourhoods at once: the postal service registers it under Planalto Paulistai, while the market sells it as Moema Índios, because that is where it truly belongs.