African Consolidated Theatres commissioned J.C. Cook & Cowen to design a new theatre and office complex in 1937, to replace the theatre of the same name which had opened in 1903. Construction was interrupted by World War II and only completed in 1945. Decorated with the plushness befitting royalty, His Majesty’s Theatre became the venue for spectacular productions. The theatre occupied the central block between the office towers which were topped with steel crowns, lit up at night. Advocate Joe Slovo, a leading communist and later Chief of Staff of Umkonto we Sizwe in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle, had chambers in the office towers.