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.
Tallest buildings
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] |
Notable buildings in Johannesburg
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.
Skyscrapers number by cities
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 |