Prototype K2 telephone kiosk to western side of entrance portal of Burlington House

Timber prototype telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1924.

MATERIALS: timber construction, painted red, with a teak door.

DETAILS: square kiosk, the design of which became a standard type. The kiosk is a neoclassical cubicle with a segmentally vaulted roof, each side framed by reeded strips with paterae to the angles. There are perforated crowns – the symbol of the GPO – to the pediments, and the word ‘TELEPHONE’ perforated in serif lettering in the frieze beneath (where the manufactured K2s would have painted lettering on opaque glass). The kiosk is glazed on three sides, including the door, the glazing bars holding three over six panes, with a panel beneath; the glazing on this prototype model stops slightly higher than on the cast-iron kiosks. The fourth side of the kiosk, which held the telephone internally, has a blind panel. The pierced vent plate in the ceiling is part of Scott's design. The kiosk remains largely intact, though with some modifications, including the installation of wired glass, a modern light fitting, and modern telephone equipment.