Summary

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

Description

The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in the 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. One pane of glass is missing from the fourth panel down in the door. Otherwise the kiosk is intact.

The K6 stands on a green triangle where Harleston Road meets Pulham Road. The kiosk stands near Leists Farmhouse, a C17 timber-framed house, 30 metres to the north east, (listed at Grade II NHLE number 1373225) and The Old Post Office House, 33 metres to the south east, an early C19 house with pantiled roof, (listed at Grade II, NHLE number 1152349). The telephone kiosk has a strong visual relationship with both listed buildings.

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 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 a new kiosk type. But many still remain, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

Reasons for Listing

The Rushall K6 telephone kiosk is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural / design interest: the K6 is an iconic C20 industrial design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott;
* Group value: the kiosk has a strong visual relationship with two listed buildings; Leists Farmhouse, 30 metres to the north east, and The Old Post Office House, 33 metres to the south east.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66478525

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

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2