On Top of Joburg at 120 End Street

2Summers | 5 June 2018

Nothing beats watching the sunset from a Joburg rooftop.

Downtown Joburg from 120 End Street — Looking down at the crazy evening traffic from the roof of 120 End Street.

On Sunday evening, Mark Straw from the Joburg Photowalkers organized a rooftop mission for all of the photographers who contributed their pictures to the recent #JoziWalks weekend. We drove together to 120 End Street, a 26-story residential building in the middle of the CBD, and spent the evening taking pictures there.

120 End Street in downtown Joburg — 120 End Street (center) shot a few months ago from the roof of August House. I’ve always been curious about the view from the top of this building.

On the roof at 120 End Street — On the roof at 120 End.

Another Take on the Joburg Skyline

I’ve said this a million times before, but Joburg’s skyline is its best asset and I never get sick of looking at it from various angles and heights. Every rooftop provides its own unique interpretation of the city.

120 End Street has a particularly interesting view of Hillbrow and the most chaotic section of the city centre, between Ellis Park and the Noord Street taxi rank.

Joburg view from 120 End Street — Someone on Instagram asked me which street is in the middle of this frame. I’m pretty sure it’s De Villiers Street but I can’t tell for sure, even after several minutes staring at Google Maps. Regardless of which street it is, I cannot believe how busy it was on a Sunday evening. The traffic in this part of Joburg is ridiculous – it’s the only part of town where I’m seriously scared to drive.

Joburg train tracks and Park Station — Chaos.

View to the north from 120 End Street — View to the north toward Hillbrow and Berea.

View to the east from 120 End Street — View to the east toward Maboneng and Jeppestown.

Photographers at 120 End Street — Settling in for the evening photoshoot.

Heather and Kevin at 120 End Street — Me and a nice guy named Kevin. (Photo: Mark Straw)

We had delicious food on the roof, supplied by my old friend the Roving Bantu, and it was all pretty much perfect except for the frozen breeze that attacked us the moment the sun went down. (This might be Africa but don’t be deceived. It gets freaking cold here in June and July, especially 26 floors up.)

Heather at 120 End Street — Me in my happy place. (Photo: Nice guy named Kevin)

Sundown at 120 End Street — Hillbrow and Braamfontein at sundown.

120 End Street view — Sorry for the redundancy but I struggled to narrow down my photo choices.

Jozi silhouette — Shooting the Sentech Tower.

Unfortunately 120 End Street is not open to the public so please don’t ask me how you can get up there. But here are some other suggestions for places to go with great views of the Joburg skyline: Ponte City with Dlala Nje, Randlords, the Melville Koppies, the Parktonian, and Elevate at the Reef Hotel.