K6 Telephone Kiosks At St Paul'S Cathedral

627/0/10286 ST PAUL'S CHURCHYARD 23-FEB-10 K6 telephone kiosks at St Paul's Cathe dral

GV II Three K6 telephone kiosks.

DESCRIPTION: The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in 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.

The kiosks consist of a pair located on the south-west side of St Paul's Churchyard, opposite the west front of St Paul's Cathedral (Grade I), and a single kiosk adjacent to the tower of St Augustine Watling Street (Grade I) to the south-east of the Cathedral. According to BT records, the pair on St Paul's Churchyard were located to this position in 2007.

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 far plainer kiosk types. But many still remain, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The three K6 telephone kiosks in the vicinity of St Paul's Cathedral are designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Design Interest: Giles Gilbert Scott's design has special interest for its artistry and functionality as well its iconic status as a milestone of C20 industrial design; * Setting: They have a strong visual relationship to St Paul's Cathedral and other listed structures in the vicinity of this location of exceptional architectural and historic special interest.