Description

788/0/10275 COMMERCIAL STREET
13-APR-10 K6 telephone kiosk

GV 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.

This kiosk is located on the east side of Commercial Street outside the south-west corner of the churchyard of Christ Church Spitalfields (listed at Grade I).

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:
The K6 telephone kiosk on the east side of Commercial Street, outside the churchyard of Christ Church Spitalfields is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* 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 the Grade I listed Christ Church Spitalfields, one of London's most dramatic churches, and the listed street furniture it groups with outside the churchyard.

Reasons for Listing

The K6 telephone kiosk on the east side of Commercial Street, outside the churchyard of Christ Church Spitalfields is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* 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 the Grade I listed Christ Church Spitalfields, one of London's most dramatic churches, and the listed street furniture it groups with outside the churchyard.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27087276

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

• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)