Piemonte Tower

Piemonte Tower (Torre Piemonte), also known as Torre Alta Vila, is a 101-meter-high tourist structure that forms part of the Alta Vila Class Center commercial complex, inaugurated in 2005 on the border between the municipalities of Nova Lima and Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The tower is distinguished by its location atop a mountainous massif between the Serra do Curral and the Serra do Rola-Moça, standing 432 meters above the level of downtown Belo Horizonte and less than 10 kilometers from Praça Sete. At this altitude, it provides a wide 360° view of Belo Horizonte, neighboring cities, and the mountains of Minas Gerais. The tower is entirely clad in stainless steel, using a total of 50 tons of the material. It also features LED night lighting that can alternate between white, blue, red, and amber colors. These features enhance the tower's visibility, making it visible from practically any point in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region. A notable fact in its construction was the use of two helicopters to place the tower's cone, as reported on the development's website at the time of its inauguration. Given the altitude characteristics where the tower was built, the design was based on wind speeds of up to 190 km/h, exerting a force of 4 kN per meter on the structure. The top of the tower has two floors: the first floor houses a panoramic observation space and an area for events; the second floor is currently occupied by a restaurant specializing in contemporary Minas Gerais cuisine. The building, originally constructed as a shopping mall, has four floors in total. Today, the first floor is occupied by the complex's administration, which also includes a 2,900 m² space allocated for fairs. The second and third floors are entirely occupied by the office of the consulting firm Accenture. The fourth floor is home to the "Salão Bela Vista," an event space with capacity for up to 1,200 people. Beneath the commercial complex, there is a large parking lot with capacity for 850 spaces distributed over five floors, with a camera monitoring system. The Alta Vila Class Center commercial center, with its imposing attached tower, was designed to offer a new concept of entertainment in Belo Horizonte and its metropolitan region. However, the complex, with capacity for 72 stores, was inaugurated in 2005 with only half of the commercial spaces occupied, and not even the cinema survived its first year of operation. The reasons cited for the failure of the development as a commercial space were: the rushed inauguration of stores, the price of parking, the absence of anchor stores, and even the lack of public transportation planning to serve the region, which is somewhat isolated from the rest of the city. The location is served by two municipal bus lines of Belo Horizonte, lines 2104 and 4110 of BHTRANS. Six months after the complex's inauguration, Hard Rock Café, the famous American restaurant, opened its second unit in Brazil at Alta Vila. Staying in the space for nearly ten years, Hard Rock became the only unit of this global chain in the country. With scarce public during weekdays, the concert venue and restaurant eventually closed its doors at Alta Vila in 2014, ceasing operations in Brazil. In this scenario, the management of the development has been adapting the use of its spaces, coming to house corporate offices of companies such as Accenture, which since 2013 occupies the entire third floor of the commercial center. Similarly, the fourth floor of the Mall is now used as an event space, with capacity for up to 1,200 people, sought after weekly by wedding, birthday, fashion show, and other production caterers.

Piemonte Tower, also known as Torre Alta Vila, is a 101-meter-high tourist structure that is part of the Alta Vila Class Center commercial complex, inaugurated in 2005 on the border between the municipalities of Nova Lima and Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The tower is notable for its location atop a mountainous massif between the Serra do Curral and the Serra do Rola-Moça, standing 432 meters above the level of downtown Belo Horizonte and less than 10 kilometers from Praça Sete. At this altitude, it provides a wide 360° view of Belo Horizonte, neighboring cities, and the mountains of Minas Gerais. The tower is entirely clad in stainless steel, using a total of 50 tons of the material. It also features LED night lighting that can alternate between white, blue, red, and amber colors. These features enhance the tower's visibility, making it visible from practically any point in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region. A notable fact in its construction was the use of two helicopters to place the tower's cone, as reported on the development's website at the time of its inauguration. Given the altitude characteristics where the tower was built, the design was based on wind speeds of up to 190 km/h, exerting a force of 4 kN per meter on the structure. The top of the tower has two floors: the first floor houses a panoramic observation space and an area for events; the second floor is currently occupied by a restaurant specializing in contemporary Minas Gerais cuisine. The building, originally constructed as a shopping mall, has four floors in total. Today, the first floor is occupied by the complex's administration, which also includes a 2,900 m² space allocated for fairs. The second and third floors are entirely occupied by the office of the consulting firm Accenture. The fourth floor is home to the "Salão Bela Vista," an event space with capacity for up to 1,200 people. Beneath the commercial complex, there is a large parking lot with capacity for 850 spaces distributed over five floors, with a camera monitoring system. The Alta Vila Class Center commercial center, with its imposing attached tower, was designed to offer a new concept of entertainment in Belo Horizonte and its metropolitan region. However, the complex, with capacity for 72 stores, was inaugurated in 2005 with only half of the commercial spaces occupied, and not even the cinema survived its first year of operation. The reasons cited for the failure of the development as a commercial space were: the rushed inauguration of stores, the price of parking, the absence of anchor stores, and even the lack of public transportation planning to serve the region, which is somewhat isolated from the rest of the city. The location is served by two municipal bus lines of Belo Horizonte, lines 2104 and 4110 of BHTRANS. Six months after the complex's inauguration, Hard Rock Café, the famous American restaurant, opened its second unit in Brazil at Alta Vila. Staying in the space for nearly ten years, Hard Rock became the only unit of this global chain in the country. With scarce public during weekdays, the concert venue and restaurant eventually closed its doors at Alta Vila in 2014, ceasing operations in Brazil. In this scenario, the management of the development has been adapting the use of its spaces, coming to house corporate offices of companies such as Accenture, which since 2013 occupies the entire third floor of the commercial center. Similarly, the fourth floor of the Mall is now used as an event space, with capacity for up to 1,200 people, sought after weekly by wedding, birthday, fashion show, and other production caterers.

• 2014

  Hard Rock Café closes its doors at Alta Vila, ceasing operations in Brazil.

• 2013

  Accenture begins occupying the entire third floor of the commercial center.

• 2005

  Inauguration of Alta Vila Class Center and Piemonte Tower.

• 2005

  Hard Rock Café opens its second unit in Brazil at Alta Vila, six months after the complex's inauguration.

Tourist and commercial landmark offering panoramic views and event spaces in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area.

• Panoramic observation deck

  Located on the first floor of the tower top, offering 360° views.

• Event space

  Located on the first floor of the tower top.

• Contemporary Minas Gerais restaurant

  Occupies the second floor of the tower top.

• Salão Bela Vista

  Event space on the fourth floor with capacity for up to 1,200 people.

• Parking lot

  850 spaces over five floors with camera monitoring.

1. 1Piemonte Tower - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Torre Piemonte - Wikipedia (Portuguese)pt.wikipedia.org