K6 Telephone Kiosk

856/0/10014 LONGPORT 11-MAY-07 K6 TELEPHONE KIOSK

II BUILDING: K6 telephone box

DATE: The K6 was designed in 1935; the date of this example is not known.

ARCHITECT: Giles Gilbert Scott

MATERIALS: Cast iron, glass

EXTERIOR: The K6 kiosk was a development on Scott's 1924 K2 design. It has two glazed sides and a glazed door, all with narrow panes either side of a wider central panel of horizontal panes, beneath a domical roof. In the segmental upper structure on each side is a relief crown, placed above a glazed panel bearing the word TELEPHONE.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: The archetypal K6 telephone kiosk was designed by the eminent architect Giles Gilbert Scott (of Battersea Power Station and Liverpool Cathedral fame) in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, and was a development on Scott's 1924 K2 design. It is of special interest for the quality of the architectural design as applied to an industrially produced object of mass communication. Some 70,000 K6s were ultimately produced.

This K6 telephone kiosk stands in a prominent position on Longport opposite the precinct of the Grade I listed and scheduled St Augustine's Abbey and contributes to its setting. It lies within a conservation area, and has a strong visual relationship with the Abbey and its World Heritage Site.