The fab Carlton Centre has fallen

The iconic complex, which drew celebrities and was a commerical hub, is now a shadow of its former self

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If you ever stood at the base of the Carlton Centre and craned your neck to take it all in, you'll understand why its decline is one of Jozi’s most significant urban losses.

Rising 223 metres into the Joburg skyline, the Carlton Centre Tower was once the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. At the time it was nicknamed “Africa’s Skyscraper”. But today, it’s a relic of a time when Johannesburg dreamt bigger than anywhere else on the continent.

Construction on the Carlton Centre began in the 1960s, led by architects Gordon Bunshaft of SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) and local firm Rhodes, Harrison, Hoffe and Partners. Funded by Anglo American and South African Breweries, it was a marvel of its time.

Completed in 1973, the tower soared 50 floors above Commissioner Street. At its peak, it wasn’t just a place of business, it was the beating heart of high society, finance, retail and luxury accommodation. The building was so vast that it held more than 53000m² of lettable retail space and 68 000m² of office space. It even had an ice-skating rink, the Sky Rink, on the 20th floor, which was later converted into a film studio.

But the Carlton Centre wasn’t just one building; it was a complex. Its better-known component was the Carlton Hotel. Or should I say hotels. There were three. Not many people are aware of each hotel's history.

Excavations for the original Carlton Hotel began in 1898 but construction had to halt when the South African War broke out the following year. Construction by Barnadot-Joel Mining Company resumed in 1903, and the Carlton Hotel opened its doors on 16 February 1906. This was a highly anticipated event on the social calendar of the time.

learned something that many Joburgers do not know in the book Johannesburg Then and Now by Marc Latilla.