Complexo do Gasômetro, Industrial heritage site in Brás District, São Paulo, Brazil

Complexo do Gasômetro is a former gasworks in the Brás District of São Paulo, between Rua da Figueira and Rua Maria Domitila. Its roughly 350-square-metre area holds two steel gas holders, the smaller built in 1890 and the second finished in 1926, plus a meter house, compressor house, workshop, clinic, canteen and an administration building from 1933.

The San Paulo Gas Company established the complex in 1870, choosing a site close to the new railway lines to make it easier to bring in coal for gas production. That location allowed the company to supply gas to a city that was growing fast at the time.

The site is also called Casa da Figueira. Its opening in 1872 was timed to celebrate the return of Emperor Dom Pedro II from a journey, and gas arches were lit in front of the old Cathedral and the former Government Palace. In the 19th century it supplied 700 public lamps and 174 homes.

The site sits between Rua da Figueira and Rua Maria Domitila, within easy reach of central São Paulo. Some areas may not be open to the public due to ongoing operations, so it is worth checking in advance which parts can be visited.

The two gas holders were assembled from numbered steel parts shipped dismantled from England, a method compared at the time to railway construction and seen as a mark of modernity. The smaller one dates from 1890, the second was finished in 1926. The site also has a book, Complexo do Gasômetro - a energia de São Paulo, by architect Luís Magnani and professor Hugo Segawa, published in 2008.