Summary

K6 telephone kiosk designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

Description

K6 telephone kiosk designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

MATERIALS: cast-iron painted red overall.

EXTERIOR: the K6 is a standardised design 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. The kiosk in Binbrook has had some glazing replaced with plastic and the red paint is flaking in some places.

INTERIOR: the internal equipment is modern.

History

The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. The K6 was designed by Sir 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. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) was one of the most important 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 but in the 1960s many were replaced with far plainer kiosk types. Many still remain however, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

The kiosk in Binbrook stands on the north-west side of the Market Place. It is located near the Grade II listed pump and five bollards which stand in the centre of the Market Place, and near the Grade II listed manor house on the south-east side of the Market Place with its wall and gate piers, also listed at Grade II.

Reasons for Listing

The K6 telephone kiosk in Binbrook, designed in 1935, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Design: it is an iconic C20 industrial design by Giles Gilbert Scott;
* Group Value: it has a strong visual relationship with two Grade II listed buildings.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26676274

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2