K6 Telephone Kiosk

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 30/05/2017

786/0/10201

CUTTY SARK GARDENS K6 telephone kiosk

12-OCT-10

II K6 telephone kiosk. Cast iron, glass and perspex.

DESCRIPTION: This K6 is representative of a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in the door and sides, 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. It is fairly intact, although some windows have been replaced in perspex, and overall it is in worn condition. It stands opposite the Cutty Sark (listed Grade I), the Greenwich Footway Tunnel entrance building (Grade II) and the Monument to fallen soldiers of the New Zealand campaign 1863-64 (Grade II). The kiosk also faces the Royal Naval College and railings (Grade II).

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.

The telephone kiosk was moved to its current location within Cutty Sark Gardens in 2011.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The K6 telephone kiosk at Cutty Sark Gardens is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935, the K6 is a major landmark of industrial design. * This telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with five listed buildings collectively.