This list of tallest buildings in Johannesburg ranks all completed buildings by height in the city of Johannesburg, which is the largest city in South Africa. Johannesburg is classified as a megacity, [1] and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world.
This list ranks Johannesburg buildings that stand at least 100 m (328 ft) tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details.
| Name | Height (architectural) | Floors | Built | City | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Leonardo | 234 m (767 ft) | 55 | 2019 | Sandton | Fourth tallest building in Africa and tallest in sub-Saharan Africa. The Leonardo was the tallest building on the continent for a brief period in April 2019. |
| Carlton Centre | 223 m (732 ft) | 50 | 1973 | Johannesburg CBD | Fifth tallest building in Africa and second tallest in sub-Saharan Africa. The Carlton Centre was the tallest building in Africa for 46 years, from 1973 until 2019. |
| Ponte City Apartments | 173 m (568 ft) | 54 | 1975 | Berea | Tallest residential building in Africa. |
| Marble Towers | 152 m (499 ft) | 32 | 1973 | Johannesburg CBD | For a brief period in 1973, this was the tallest building in Africa. Marble Towers was the first building in South Africa to surpass the ancient and early mediaeval height of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt (146.6 m (481 ft)). |
| Sandton City Office Tower | 141 m (463 ft) | 22 | 1973 | Sandton | Topped out in 2014. |
| Michelangelo Towers | 140 m (460 ft) | 34 | 2005 | Sandton | The tallest single-purpose hotel in South Africa. |
| ABSA Tower | 140 m (460 ft) | 32 | 1970 | Johannesburg CBD | [ citation needed ] |
| KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel Tower 1 | 140 m (460 ft) | 40 | 1970 | Johannesburg CBD | [2] Mothballed since 1998; under its previous name, the Johannesburg Sun Hotel, it was tied with the Trust Bank Building as the tallest building in Africa from 1970 to 1973. |
| Trust Bank Building | 140 m (460 ft) | 31 | 1970 | Johannesburg CBD | [3] The Trust Bank Building was tied with the Johannesburg Sun Hotel as the tallest building in Africa from 1970 to 1973. |
| Standard Bank Centre | 139 m (456 ft) | 34 | 1968 | Johannesburg CBD | [4] The Standard Bank Centre was the tallest building in Africa from 1968 to 1970. It was the first building in South Africa taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza (138.5 m (454 ft)), which had been the continent's tallest building since its completion ca. 2600 BC. |
| Southern Life Centre | 138 m (453 ft) | 30 | 1973 | Johannesburg CBD | [5] |
| UCS Building | 128 m (420 ft) | 29 | 1976 | Braamfontein | [6] |
| Kine Centre | 123 m (404 ft) | 27 | 1974 | Johannesburg CBD | [7] |
| Carlton Hotel | 119 m (390 ft) | 30 | 1973 | Johannesburg CBD | [8] Mothballed since 1997 |
| Radiopark | 117 m (384 ft) | 30 | 1962 | Auckland Park | [ citation needed ] Radiopark was the tallest building in South Africa from 1962 until 1968. |
| Schlesinger Building | 110 m (360 ft) | 21 | 1965 | Braamfontein | [9] |
| Highpoint Hillbrow | 105 m (344 ft) | 25 | 1972 | Hillbrow | [10] |
Johannesburg features a variety of commercial and residential buildings, so there are also a few modern buildings such as the KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel and the Trust Bank Building. The Johannesburg-Pretoria combined metropolitan area has the densest concentration of skyscrapers on the continent and one of the densest in the world.
The Leonardo is a skyscaper in the prosperous northern suburb of Sandton. At 234 m, it is the fourth-tallest building in Africa and was the tallest building on the continent from mid-April 2019 until 29 April 2019, when it was surpassed by the Great Mosque of Algiers Tower in Algeria. It remains the tallest building in South Africa, and in sub-Saharan Africa.
Carlton Centre is a skyscraper and shopping centre located in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa. At 223 metres (730 ft), it was the tallest building in Africa for 46 years and stands at about half the height of the Willis Tower (the former Sears Tower) in Chicago. It was the tallest building in the southern hemisphere when originally completed, and remains the fifth-tallest building in Africa and the second-tallest in sub-Saharan Africa. The Carlton Centre has 50 floors, and is 223 m (732 ft) tall. The foundations of the two buildings in the complex are 3.5 m (11 ft) in diameter and extend 20 m (66 ft) down to the bedrock, 30 m (98 ft) below street level. The building houses both offices and shops, and has over 46 per cent of the floor area below ground level. A viewing deck on the 50th floor offers views of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Ponte City is a skyscraper in the Hillbrow neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1975 to a height of 173 m (567.6 ft), making it the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa. The 54-story building is cylindrical, with an open center allowing additional light into the apartments. The center space is known as "the core" and rises above an uneven rock floor. Ponte City was an extremely desirable address for its views over all of Johannesburg and its surroundings. The sign on top of the building is the highest and largest sign in the southern hemisphere. It advertises the South African mobile phone company Vodacom.
Marble Towers is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1973 and is 32 storeys tall. The building has an eight-storey parking garage attached to it. It has the biggest electronic sign in the Southern Hemisphere, measuring 44 by 32 by 12 m (144 by 105 by 39 ft). It is made out of a mixture of concrete and marble. Its main use is for commercial offices.
KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. The complex, built in 1970 originally as "The Tollman Towers" (owned by the prominent South African family), were two separate towers, one 40 stories and the other 22, linked by a four-story podium with a pool deck and a running track. The building was empty for many years as the hotel, The Johannesburg Sun, relocated to Sandton. The building was then converted to a Holiday Inn, which also quickly failed. The new KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel opened in 2001, when it hosted 3000 police officers for the world summit on sustainable development, it was owned Mark Whitehead of Whitehead Enterprises, then also soon went out of business. The building is "mothballed."
Sandton City is a shopping centre located in Sandton, Johannesburg that was built as pioneer centre in 1973. The tower was built as part of a business park for downtown Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg. Liberty Properties announced in 2008 that Sandton City would receive a R1.77 billion upgrade. Liberty Properties Chief Executive Samuel Ogbo envisaged the complex as South Africa's very own Wall Street The redevelopment will include the construction of a 60-storey office tower, new retail and office space and residential apartments. The extension will stretch to 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) and the total complex will have a gross lettable area of 158,000 m2 (1,700,000 sq ft).
Trust Bank Building is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1970 to a height of 140 metres (460 ft). The building is the former head office of Trust Bank of South Africa, and as such has one of the largest bank vaults in South Africa. The building was sold in February 2003 for Rand 6.4 million (USD $640.000), which may prompt the name to be changed to that of the new tenant.
11 Diagonal Street is a skyscraper in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1984 to a height of 80 metres (260 ft). It is designed to look like a diamond as it reflects different views of the Central Business District from each angle of the building.
This table shows South African cities with at least one skyscraper over 100 metres in height, completed.
| Rank | City | ≥100 m | ≥150 m | ≥200 m | ≥250 m | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 18 | 1 | – | – | 19 |
| 2 | Johannesburg | 13 | 2 | 2 | – | 17 |
| 3 | Cape Town | 10 | – | – | – | 10 |
| 4 | Pretoria | 6 | 1 | – | – | 7 |
| 5 | Sandton | 2 | – | 1 | – | 3 |
| 6 | Bloemfontein | 2 | – | – | – | 2 |
The Hillbrow Tower is a tall tower located in the suburb of Hillbrow in Johannesburg, South Africa. At 269 m (883 ft), it was the tallest structure and tower in Africa for 50 years, until it was surpassed in 2021 by the 393.8 m (1,292 ft) Iconic Tower in Egypt's New Administrative Capital. For seven years it was also the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere until 1978, when surpassed by the 270 m Mount Isa Chimney in Queensland, Australia. It remains the tallest telecommunications tower in Africa, and the tallest structure in sub-Saharan Africa. Construction of the tower began in June 1968 and was completed three years later, in April 1971. Construction cost 2 million rand. The tower was initially known as the JG Strijdom Tower, after JG (Hans) Strijdom, South African Prime Minister from 1954 to 1958. On 31 May 2005 it was renamed the Telkom Joburg Tower.
Sandton City is a large shopping centre situated in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built and owned by property development company Rapp and Maister, in partnership with brothers Hilliard and Eli Leibowitz, and was later taken over by Liberty Life.
The Carlton Centre is a 50-storey skyscraper and shopping centre located on Commissioner Street in central Johannesburg, South Africa. At 223 metres (732 ft), it was the tallest building in Africa for 46 years from its completion in 1973 until 2019. It is today the continent's fifth tallest building after The Leonardo, the Mohammed VI Tower in Morocco, the Great Mosque of Algiers Tower in Algeria and the Iconic Tower in Egypt. The foundations of the two buildings in the complex are 5 m (16 ft) in diameter and extend 15 m (49 ft) down to the bedrock, 35 m (115 ft) below street level. The building houses both offices and shops, and has over 46 per cent of the floor area below ground level.
The Sentech Tower, previously named the Albert Hertzog Tower and commonly known as the Brixton Tower, is a 237-metre-high (778 ft) concrete television tower in the Brixton suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, near the top of the Brixton Ridge. It is a well-known and easily identifiable landmark in the city, alongside its "architectural cousin", the Hillbrow Tower. Although always intended for both radio and television transmission, it carried only FM radio transmissions until the 1970s.
Ponte City is a skyscraper in the Berea suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, just next to Hillbrow. It was built in 1975 to a height of 173 m (567.6 ft), making it the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa. The 55-storey building is cylindrical, with an open centre allowing additional light into the apartments. The centre space is known as "the core" and rises above an uneven rock floor. When built, Ponte City was seen as an extremely desirable address due to its location and views over Johannesburg, but it became infamous for its crime and poor maintenance in the late 1980s to 1990s. It has since been refurbished into a safe property. The neon sign on top of the building is the largest sign in the Southern Hemisphere. It currently advertises the South African mobile phone company Vodacom. Prior to 2000, it advertised for The Coca-Cola Company.
The Johannesburg Sun Hotel is an abandoned twin-tower skyscraper hotel in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Trust Bank Building is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1970 to a height of 140 metres. The building is the former head office of Trust Bank of South Africa, and as such has one of the largest bank vaults in South Africa. The building was sold in February 2003 for Rand 6.4 million . Like most skyscrapers in Johannesburg the height is 140m which is the same height as KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel, Michelangelo Towers, ABSA Tower and Standard Bank Centre which are all 140m tall.
Highpoint Hillbrow is a skyscraper in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1972 to a height of 105 metres. The building is mostly apartments built on top of a large shopping centre and cinema.
The Eskom Centre is a office tower in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1955 to a height of 61 metres. The building was the headquarters of Eskom from 1958 until the company relocated to Sandton in the mid-1980s. The building was the tallest building in Johannesburg when it was finished in 1958. The building was so high compared to other buildings in Johannesburg that it was the only one that could be seen from the patch of veld that is now called Kensington B.
The Johannesburg Central Business District, commonly called Johannesburg CBD, is one of the main business centres of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the densest collection of skyscrapers in Africa, however, due to white flight and urban blight, many of the buildings are unoccupied as tenants have left for more secure locations in the Northern Suburbs, in particular Sandton and Rosebank. There are significant movements to revive the area.
Johannesburg is the capital of the Gauteng province and the financial hub of South Africa. Founded in 1886, the city is located in the Witwatersrand region, which has vast gold deposits. The town experienced rapid growth as the gold deposits were exploited, and is now South Africa's largest urban centre. As a result, the Johannesburg area has a wide variety of architecture, from early Art Nouveau to Postmodern buildings. Hillbrow, for example, contains many buildings constructed since the 1950s, including the Hillbrow Tower.
The Leonardo is a 55-floor mixed-use property development in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. The fourth tallest building in Africa and the tallest in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, it stands at a height of 234 metres (768 ft). The building is built at 75 Maude Street, approximately 100 metres from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
