Pair Of K6 Telephone Kiosks Outside Holy Trinity War Memorial Shelter

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 02/04/2014

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SIDNEY STREET Pair of K6 telephone kiosks outside Holy Trinity War Memorial Shelter

08-NOV-10

GV II Pair of K6 telephone kiosks

DESCRIPTION: The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in the door and sides and with the crowns situated on the top panels being applied not perforated. There are rectangular white display signs, reading TELEPHONE beneath the shallow-curved roof. It has modernised internal equipment. This pair of kiosks are in a generally fair state of repair. Both kiosks retain all their glass panes.

The pair of kiosks are located on the west side of Sidney Street, approximately 35m south of its junction with Market Street and adjacent (east of) Holy Trinity Church, which is designated at Grade B. Within the visual context of the kiosks there are also a number of other designated buildings, including the railings to the churchyard, and Nos 1 and 2 Market Street (all at Grade II) which lie approximately 55m north of the kiosks. The pair of kiosks have a strong visual relationship with these three designated buildings collectively.

HISTORY: The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. The K6 was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 for the General Post Office, on the occasion of King George V's Silver Jubilee. The K6 was a development from his earlier highly successful K2 telephone kiosk design of 1924, of Neo-classical inspiration. The K6 was more streamlined aesthetically, more compact and more cost-effective to mass produce. Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) was one of the most important of modern British architects; his many celebrated commissions include the Anglican cathedral of Liverpool and Battersea power station. The K2 and K6 telephone kiosks can be said to represent a very thoughtful adaptation of architectural tradition to contemporary technological requirements. Well over 70,000 K6s were eventually produced. In the 1960s many were replaced with a new kiosk type. But many still remain, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The pair of K6 telephone kiosks outside Holy Trinity War Memorial Shelter, Sidney Street, Cambridge, situated in a Conservation Area, are designated at Grade II for the following principal reason: * They have a strong visual relationship with three other nearby designated buildings and merit designation.