*All distances listed are as the crow flies, and not actual travel distances.
Johannesburg Zoo, Bensusan Photographic Museum, SAB World of Beer, Satyagraha House, Enoch Sontonga Memorial Park, Sandton City, Moyo Restaurants, Newtown Cultural Precinct, Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg Art Gallery and Sculpture Park, Nelson Mandela Bridge, Rand Easter Show, Constitution Hill, Brenthurst Gardens, Apartheid Museum, Radium Beer Hall, Oriental Plaza, The Bag Factory, Standard Bank Gallery, ABSA Art Gallery, MuseuMAfricA
Owned by the country’s largest telecommunications company, the Hillbrow Tower is South Africa’s – and Africa’s – tallest building. It’s staggering to think that the tower was constructed way back in 1971 and still holds this title. It can be seen from afar, a familiar beacon for anyone seeking directions through the streets of Johannesburg.
The Hillbrow Tower was built in a densely populated area and erected to a height of 269m to ensure it remained well above the average highrise building in order to send out microwave signals, a new technology at the time. The foundations went deep into the ground, to 40m to limit the building’s movement.
In 2005 the building was renamed the Telkom Johannesburg Tower but the name has failed to stick and South Africans continue to refer to it as the Hillbrow Tower.
In the early years, the tower was open to the public and the long ride in the lift... Show more
