Description

800/0/10137 QUEENS AVENUE
12-FEB-10 Muswell Hill
(North side)
K6 telephone kiosk adjacent to cattle
drinking trough

II
K6 telephone kiosk.

DESCRIPTION: The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall 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. It has modernised internal equipment.

The kiosk is located at the south-east end of Queens Avenue, Muswell Hill, near the junction with Muswell Hill Broadway. It stands on the north side of the road adjacent to a late-C19 Drinking Fountains and Cattle Trough Association cattle trough, and opposite the Muswell Hill Public Library (both listed 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.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
* Design Interest: Giles Gilbert Scott's design has special interest for its artistry and functionality as well its iconic status as a milestone of C20 industrial design;
* Setting: a strong visual relationship to two listed buildings including a Drinking Fountains and Cattle Trough Association cattle trough, with which it forms a group of characteristic London street furniture.

Reasons for Listing

Yes list

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27087265

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

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)