Carlton Centre, Tallest skyscraper and shopping complex in central Johannesburg, South Africa
Carlton Centre is a 50-story concrete tower that rises 223 meters above downtown Johannesburg, housing offices and retail spaces throughout its height. Underground levels form a major shopping complex with around 180 shops, restaurants, and service facilities serving the city center.
The project was announced on 24 November 1963 after SA Breweries and Anglo American merged plans for a superblock. Excavation began in 1966, removing one million tons of earth to 30 m depth; Murray & Roberts started construction in 1968. The centre opened on 1 September 1973 at over R88 million, and Transnet bought it in 1999 for R33 million.
The complex takes its name from the original Carlton Hotel, demolished in 1963 to make way for the project. The hotel tower, linked to the centre by an underground shopping level, appeared in the film Plattfuß in Afrika and closed in 1997. The Top of Africa observation deck on the 50th floor sits at almost 2,000 metres above sea level.
The Top of Africa observation deck occupies the 50th floor, placing visitors at almost 2,000 metres above sea level given Johannesburg's 1,753-metre elevation. The below-ground shopping centre links the tower to the former Carlton Hotel site and holds over 180 shops plus an ice rink. Access to the deck is via the office tower's lifts.
The Carlton Hotel was a separate second tower in the same complex, not the office block itself; it closed in 1997. It appears in the film Plattfuß in Afrika. The office tower's top floor, Carlton Panorama, was handed over by contractors in August 1973.
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