Refurbishing the Centre of Memory’s premises in Houghton

The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory is repurposing its premises in Houghton from Mr Mandela’s post-presidential office into an archive and dialogue venue.

The repurposing of the building marks the final phase of a five-year transition period which will see the building turned into a public facility.

The refurbishment at 107 Central Street, Houghton in Johannesburg will ultimately encourage and allow for more visitors. The building will serve as the physical interface of the Centre of Memory and the nerve centre for all its work.

There are two main areas of repurposing. The first is the upper level, which is to become an interactive space for visitors. Here there will be a permanent exhibition that incorporates what was Mr Mandela’s personal office, temporary exhibition space, a customised reading-room for research and reference work, and facilities for small-scale dialogue forums.

Refurbishment on the building’s lower level will secure cutting edge archival storage facilities for the Centre of Memory’s archival collections, including Mr Mandela’s personal papers.

The Centre of Memory will continue its work in communities locally and around the world.

It is planned to complete the refurbishment in February 2013, and to open the building to the public shortly thereafter.

Please click on the images to view the planned refurbishments and an artist's impression of the repurposed areas.