To the west of Marshalltown along Main Street in Johannesburg lies the Anglo American Precinct. Anglo was one of the companies that remained committed to the inner city during the flight to the north in the mid to late 1990s. With a remarkable set of buildings telling the history of the company, city and country we understand why! The jewel in the crown is certainly 44 Main Street which was a landmark in its time and remains so today. The wonderful piece below appeared in the Anglo publication 44 News in the early 1980s.
When the staff of Anglo American, then some 200 strong, moved at the end of 1939 from the cramped quarters in Anmercosa House, Hollard Street, to their new quarters at 44 Main Street, the building was described as "quiet, dignified and monumental in design". The Sunday Times, Johannesburg, said it set "a new trend in commercial architecture in South Africa".
Anmercosa House (SA Builder)
The decision to construct the building was taken in 1935, with a number of certain basic principles laid down as to what form it would take. The first of these was that an entire city block should be acquired, so that the new building could occupy a site by itself and not be cramped by neighbouring buildings. The second was that the new...
