Ponte City Apartments

폰테 시티 아파트먼트

Ponte City is a round skyscraper of apartments in Johannesburg, South Africa, next to the Hillbrow neighbourhood. It was built in 1975 and is 173 metres tall, with about 54 or 55 floors (sources differ). For 48 years it was the tallest residential skyscraper in Africa, until a tower in Egypt's New Administrative Capital passed it in 2023.

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At a glance

Country: South Africa
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Built: 1975
Height: 173 m
Type: Skyscraper

Quick answers

Where is Ponte City Apartments?

Ponte City Apartments is in Johannesburg, South Africa.

When was Ponte City Apartments built?

Ponte City Apartments was built in 1975.

How tall is Ponte City Apartments?

Ponte City Apartments is about 173 m tall.

The 55-storey cylindrical apartment block of Hillbrow, a ring around a vast open central core, with a giant advertising drum on its roof.

What makes it special is its shape: the building is a thick ring around a huge hollow core that is open to the sky. On top is a giant advertising sign, the largest neon sign in the Southern Hemisphere, which has carried the names of Coca-Cola, Vodacom and now VodaPay.

Why a hollow tower?

The main designer was Mannie Feldman, working with Manfred Hermer and Rodney Grosskopff. At the time, Johannesburg rules said every kitchen and bathroom needed a window. By making the tower a ring around an open centre, the architects let daylight reach the wedge-shaped flats from both the street side and the courtyard. The idea of a cylindrical "city within a city" with shops and services inside was borrowed from Marina City in Chicago.

Trouble and renewal

In its early years Ponte City was a very desirable address with great views. During the late 1980s and 1990s, gangs and poor maintenance made it unsafe, and the open core filled with rubbish about five storeys high. Later the building was cleaned up and refurbished, and it is now regarded as a safe place to live and a symbol of Johannesburg's skyline.