Rising high above Commissioner Street stands the Carlton Centre. For many years, it was the tallest building in Africa. The Carlton Centre is a skyscraper and shopping center. It is located in the heart of Johannesburg.
The Carlton Centre held the title of tallest building in Africa for 46 years. Its reign lasted from 1973 to 2019. Today, it is the continent’s fifth tallest building. Other taller buildings include The Leonardo also in Johannesburg. Also included are the Mohammed VI Tower in Morocco, the Great Mosque of Algiers Tower in Algeria and the Iconic Tower in Egypt. From its completion until 1977 it was also the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the only South African building to have held that title.
The foundations of the Carlton Centre are massive. They are 5 meters in diameter. These foundations extend 15 meters down to the bedrock. This bedrock lies 35 meters below street level. The Carlton Centre houses offices and shops. Over 46 percent of its floor area is below ground level.
The Carlton Centre connects to the Carlton Hotel via an underground shopping center. This shopping center boasts over 180 shops.
The land needed for the Carlton Centre project was assembled from different city blocks. These blocks were bordered by Commissioner Street, Main Street, Smal Street, Kruis Street, Fox Street and Von Wielligh Street. The old Castle Lager brewery once stood on the southern blocks. South African Breweries built a new brewery and sold the old site. The Schlesinger family bought it and turned it into parking lots. The original Carlton Hotel was demolished in 1963.
South African Breweries later decided to build a hotel on the site. Simultaneously, Anglo American was looking to create a superblock in the city. The two companies joined forces. Harry Gotlieb acted as their secret intermediary. He purchased the Schlesinger’s southern block and negotiated the purchase of the northern block. Barclays Bank took a 10% stake in the project. SA Breweries and Anglo each held a 45% share. The project was announced on 24 November 1963.
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed the Carlton Centre. They worked with a local firm, W. Rhodes-Harrison, Hoffe and Partners. The plan included a fifty-story office building. It also featured a 600-room luxury hotel and a department store. These buildings would sit on a plaza with an open-air circular court. This court led to two underground shopping levels. The plan included 2,000 parking spaces below the plaza. The buildings were constructed of poured-in-place concrete. They had a sandblasted grey granite finish. The design of the office tower resembles One Seneca Tower in Buffalo, New York.
Construction began in the late 1960s. Excavation of the superblocks basement started in 1966. One million tons of earth were removed. Boreholes were drilled to keep out the water table. Murray & Roberts won the tender to build the site.
The original department store opened on 14 July 1971. Garlicks was the tenant. OK Bazaars was another original department store. Offices and shops opened between 1971 and 1972. The Carlton Panorama, on the top floor of the office block, was handed over in August 1973.
SA Breweries sold its share to Anglo America in 1972. They were concerned about the project’s financial viability. The Carlton Centre officially opened on 1 September 1973. It cost over R88 million. The hotel alone cost R23 million. Western International Hotels managed the new Carlton Hotel.
The Kine Centre was built opposite the Carlton Centre. It was connected by an underground pedestrian tunnel.
Today, Transnet owns the Carlton Centre. They purchased it in 1999. In 2007, Maria Ramos announced the company’s intention to sell the building. The Carlton Centre had been Transnet’s headquarters since 2000. Due to the Great Recession, the sale was postponed. The replacement cost of the building has been estimated at R1.5 billion.
The Carlton Centre is now almost fully occupied. Pick n Pay and the South African Revenue Service are major tenants. There have been proposals to reinstate the Carlton Hotel.
The 50th floor of the Carlton Centre was called the Carlton Panorama. It is known as the “Top of Africa”. The Carlton Hotel was a 5-star hotel. It occupied most of the floor space. It was popular among the rich and famous. Urban decay in the 1990s affected the hotel. It closed in 1998 after nearly 25 years.