High Court Building

In the 1930s two additional storeys in Art Deco style were added. The lawyers vacated the building in 1941 when the new Magistrates’ Court was built in Ferreirastown to the west of the spine.

In the early 2000s the High Court Building was occupied by various commercial spaces including a bottle store, Millew's Fashions and a hairdressing salon on the ground floor, with seamstresses and tailors on the upper floors.

OPH bought the building in 2016; it was restored in 2018 and is now occupied by a new generation of lawyers and small business owners. It retains its wooden staircase and pressed steel ceilings, with views on to the square and Fox Street.

Restoring a heritage building such as High Court brings about many challenges that are unique to the heritage building.

A small issue may seem like a harmless cosmetic defect, but it has in many cases in the past lead to a greater issue with the building causing scope creep and higher costs not planned for in the original project plan.  

Furthermore, dealing with building materials that have not been used in over a century is also a common obstacle faced as these building materials are more often than not, irreplaceable. 

High Court Building has, through having endured many obstacles over its lifetime, become an iconic symbol for heritage buildings still standing in Johannesburg CBD.