Summary

K6 telephone kiosk.

Description

The telephone kiosk at the junction of Mandeville Place and Hinde Street, Marylebone is a standardised K6 design. It is made of cast iron, painted red with bands of horizontal glazing in the door and sides. The crowns situated on the top panels are applied, not perforated. There are rectangular white display signs, reading TELEPHONE beneath the shallow-curved roof. The kiosk is in good overall condition, retaining all of its glazed panels. The internal equipment has been modernised. The kiosk door was replaced with a replica by BT in 2017, although this is almost identical in form to the original (with the glazed panels mounted onto a timber door, painted red).

The position of the kiosk, on the east side of Mandeville Place, is approximately 5 metres from the junction with Hinde Street (to the north). Clustered around the junction are several listed buildings: on the opposite side of Mandeville Place is the School of Economic Science building at Nos 11 and 13 (Grade II; NHLE 1248447). On the north side of the junction are 11 and 12 Hinde Street (west side, both listed Grade II; NHLE 1231139 and 1357123 respectively), and, to the east side, James Weir’s Hinde Street Methodist Church (Grade II; NHLE 1231099).

History

The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. It 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 neoclassical 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 of modern British architects; his many celebrated commissions include the Anglican cathedral of Liverpool (listed Grade I; National Heritage List for England 1361681) and Battersea Power Station (Grade II*; NHLE 1357620). 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 K6 kiosks were eventually produced. In the 1960s many were replaced with a new kiosk type. But many still remain, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

Reasons for Listing

The K6 telephone kiosk at the junction of Mandeville Place and Hinde Street is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an iconic design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, one of the leading British architects of the period;

Group value:

* for its strong visual relationship with three listed buildings collectively at the junction of Mandeville Place and Hinde Street.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66479063

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

• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability