*** By the 1920s a competition, organised by the Metropolitan Boroughs Joint Standing Committee and Royal Fine Art Commission was arranged to alleviate the proliferation of different kiosks and to settle on a single design for the country. By 1924, invitations to submit designs were submitted and a successful design selected. Of those different designs submitted, the winning entry was that by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was born on 9th November 1880 (he died on 8th February 1960) and came from a pre-eminent family of architects. His father was George Gilbert Scott Junior and his grandfather Sir George Gilbert Scott Senior. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott produced iconic designs in Britain including those for Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station. His design for Liverpool Cathedral was submitted in 1903, when he was just twenty-two years old.
With the successful design chosen, the Post Office introduced the K2 (Kiosk No 2). Over the succeeding decades a total of six further designs were produced making a total of eight individual K-"Kiosk" designs. Please visit the variants page to learn more about the different designs for a national kiosk.
Q: What are the dimensions of a telephone kiosk?
A: The K2 telephone kiosk was approximately 9ft 3in/282cm high, 3ft 6in/107cm wide and weighs approximately 1,250 kg. The K6 and K8 telephone kiosks were both approximately 8ft 3in/251cm high and 3ft 5in/91cm wide and weigh approximately 750kg and 600kg respectively.
Q: Why are the kiosks painted red?
A: Red was a highly visible colour. Post boxes also owned by the General Post Office were painted red so the choice of colour was an obvious decision. Originally Scott had intended his kiosks to be painted silver, with a "greeny-blue" interior; but for the internal workings of the Post Office Britain might never have had a Red Telephone Box. Seemingly it is the K8 kiosk that was painted in varying colours, for example sky-blue kiosks stand within Hythe Marina in Hampshire, a dark-blue kiosk stands on the westbound District and Cirle Line platform at Liverpool Street Underground Station and a green kiosk stands on the platform at Golder's Green Underground Station.
Q: How many telephone kiosks were installed in the United Kingdom?
Approximate figures indicate the following numbers of kiosks: K1, 6,300; K2, 1,700; K3, 12,000; K4, 50: K5, none; K6, 60,000; K7, 12 (prototypes only); K8, 11,000.
Q: How many telephone kiosks remain in the United Kingdom?
A: Most telephone kiosks are now listed buildings. Figures from October 2009 record the following numbers of listings: K1, five (all Grade II-listed); K2, two-hundred and eight*; K3, three; K4, five; K5, none; K6, two thousand and seventy-two*; K7, none; and K8: one (Grade II-listed). [* some listings may comprise one or more kiosks]
Q: Are all remaining red telephone boxes listed?
A: Not all remaining red telephone boxes have been listed. Following a two year campaign led by the 20th Century Society the first K8 kiosk received Grade II-listing on 8th July 2009. The kiosk, at Worcester Shrub Hill Railway Station, is one of around sixty remaining functioning K8 kiosks in the UK. By the end of 2010 a further six K8 kiosk have been listed. These are: two in Highworth, Swindon; a further two in Wroughton Swindon; one in Street, Somerset; and one in Hawkesbury Upton, Gloucestershire. The remaining K8 kiosks have not statutory protection. Listing is not automatically applied to all red telephone boxes; listing is applied on a case-by-case basis. Therefore other kiosks not listed remain at risk.
Q: Where there any other telephone kiosks?
A: Yes, prior and subsequent to the General Post Office monopoly, examples of kiosks were installed in many parts of the country. For example, following privatisation rival companies such as Mercury Communications established fledgling kiosk networks; allbeit it generally with limited success.
Q: Where is the oldest red telephone box?
A: On the northern side of Piccadilly in London, between Sackville Street and Old Bond Street stands Burlington House, home to the Royal Academy of Arts. Just inside the porte-cochere entrance stands Sir Giles Gilbert-Scott's original, wooden, prototype K2 kiosk. On the opposite side of the porte-cochere is a production-version of a K2.
Q: Where can I see some of the rarer types of telephone kiosks?
A: To view these kiosks in person, the National Telephone Kiosk Collection forms part of the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings in Bromgsrove, Worcestershire (England). The collection comprises examples of all GPO kiosks as well as a collection of kiosks from other independent telephone companies, the Automobile Association (AA) and the Royal Automobile Club (RAC). Please click on the links section for a link to the website of the Avoncroft Museum. A visit to this museum is highly recommended ***
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