Carlton Centre, Johannesburg
The Carlton Centre is a skyscraper located in Johannesburg’s Central Business District, the commercial capital of South Africa and one of Africa’s most important financial centres. Standing 730 feet tall, the building has been the tallest in Africa ever since it opened in 1973. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, an American architectural firm. Credited with creating the modern glass and steel skyscraper, they also designed the Sears and Willis Towers in Chicago, and the current tallest building on Earth – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The tower is at the heart of a city centre that has suffered in the past from high crime and suburban expansion. It is still open, though the adjacent Carlton Hotel closed in 1997. A mixture of offices and shops, it also features a viewing platform, which is a great spot to look out on this sprawling city and the Highveld countryside beyond. First conceived in 1967, the scale of the Carlton Centre is impressive to this day. Whilst the main tower rises over 200 meters in the air, almost half of the floor space is actually underground, within a large subterranean shopping centre. Built by Anglo American Properties, the building is now owned by Transnet, South Africa’s main railway operator.
The tower is at the heart of a city centre that has suffered in the past from high crime and suburban expansion. It is still open, though the adjacent Carlton Hotel closed in 1997. A mixture of offices and shops, it also features a viewing platform, which is a great spot to look out on this sprawling city and the Highveld countryside beyond. First conceived in 1967, the scale of the Carlton Centre is impressive to this day. Whilst the main tower rises over 200 meters in the air, almost half of the floor space is actually underground, within a large subterranean shopping centre. Built by Anglo American Properties, the building is now owned by Transnet, South Africa’s main railway operator.
Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Johannesburg. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.
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Carlton Centre on Map
Sight Name: Carlton Centre
Sight Location: Johannesburg, South Africa (See walking tours in Johannesburg)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Sight Location: Johannesburg, South Africa (See walking tours in Johannesburg)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Walking Tours in Johannesburg, South Africa
Create Your Own Walk in Johannesburg
Creating your own self-guided walk in Johannesburg is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Johannesburg Introduction Walking Tour
Johannesburg, or Joburg, or "City of Gold", as it is often informally called, is South Africa's largest city. The area's original inhabitants included hunter-gatherers from the San tribes and the Ndebele, a tribe associated with the Zulu. A gold rush in 1884 lead to Johannesburg's founding in 1886. Within a decade, the population had grown to 100,000 inhabitants.
Much... view more
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.9 Km or 1.8 Miles
Much... view more
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.9 Km or 1.8 Miles
Historical Buildings Walking Tour
Since founded in 1886, following the discovery of gold on what used to be farmland, Johannesburg has evolved into an economic powerhouse of Africa. While most of the city's early buildings adopted architectural styles from its colonial parent, the British Empire, some of them also emulated the prowess of New York City. Let's take a closer look at some of these construction marvels.
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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.7 Km or 0.4 Miles
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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.7 Km or 0.4 Miles
Useful Travel Guides for Planning Your Trip
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