Red telephone box
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The red telephone box is a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for famous sites like Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station.
An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012.
K1 Telephone Kiosk at Bembridge
Prototype K2 at Burlington House (home of the Royal Academy of Arts) in London
The dome of Sir John Soane's family mausoleum in St Pancras Old Churchyard, London, may have been an inspiration for the K2's design.
KX telephone boxes
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The KX series of telephone boxes in the United Kingdom was introduced by BT in 1985. Following the privatisation of BT in 1984, the company decided to create a newly designed and improved take on the
Red telephone box
…art resembling a row of fallen dominoes. In January 2020 it was estimated that 8,000 traditional red telephone boxes remained in public service. The KX+, better known as the KX100 PLUS, introduced in 1996 had a domed roof reminiscent of the familiar K2 and K6. Subsequent designs departed significantly…
KX100 telephone box with 1991 branding
The existing red telephone boxes were seen by BT as no longer meeting the needs of users.
An early KX100 kiosk (right) alongside a later Mk2 model (left).
A line of KX100 kiosks with the original logo and insignia, during the changeover from smoked glass to clear.