K2 Telephone Kiosk to South of Entrance to Mount Street Gardens
K2 TELEPHONE KIOSK TO SOUTH OF ENTRANCE TO MOUNT STREET GARDENS, SOUTH AUDLEY STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1236431
- Date first listed:
- 09-Sept-1986
- List Entry Name:
- K2 Telephone Kiosk to South of Entrance to Mount Street Gardens
- Statutory Address:
- K2 TELEPHONE KIOSK TO SOUTH OF ENTRANCE TO MOUNT STREET GARDENS, SOUTH AUDLEY STREET
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-03-19
- Reference:
- IOE01/03763/05
- Rights:
- © Mr Kieran Morris. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1236431
- Date first listed:
- 09-Sept-1986
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 29-Mar-2010
- List Entry Name:
- K2 Telephone Kiosk to South of Entrance to Mount Street Gardens
- Statutory Address 1:
- K2 TELEPHONE KIOSK TO SOUTH OF ENTRANCE TO MOUNT STREET GARDENS, SOUTH AUDLEY STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- K2 TELEPHONE KIOSK TO SOUTH OF ENTRANCE TO MOUNT STREET GARDENS, SOUTH AUDLEY STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- City of Westminster (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 28414 80542
Details
1900/0/D65 SOUTH AUDLEY STREET 09-SEP-1986 K2 TELEPHONE KIOSK TO SOUTH OF ENTRANC E TO MOUNT STREET GARDENS (Formerly listed as: SOUTH AUDLEY STREET W1 K2 TELEPHONE KIOSK TO SOUTH OF ENTRANC E TO ST GEORGE'S (HANOVER SQUARE) GARD ENS)
GV II K2 telephone kiosk, c1927, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
The K2 follows the standard design: square, cast-iron and painted red, covered by the distinctive shallow domed roof with pendentives. There are 18 glazed rectangular lights to the door and sides; each side is framed by a shallow, reeded strip with small paterae to the angles. On each face of the frieze there is a rectangular white glazed panel bearing the word 'TELEPHONE' in black. Each segmental pediment of the sides of the dome has a perforated crown, the symbol of the GPO.
HISTORY: In 1923, the General Post Office (GPO) launched a competition organised by the Royal Fine Arts Commission to design a new telephone kiosk to improve upon the first standard design, the K1, in service from about 1921, which was widely deemed unsatisfactory and resisted by the London Metropolitan boroughs. In 1926 the winning entry was finally selected: a neo-classical design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960), already a leading architect whose commissions had by then included Liverpool's Anglican cathedral. The shallow-domed top of the K2 is reminiscent of Soane's design for his tomb in St Pancras Churchyard (Scott was a trustee of the Soane Museum). Approximately 1,700 K2s were erected, mainly in Metropolitan London, and just over 200 are thought to survive. It was succeeded by Scott's K6 design in 1935, which was installed nationally.
This K2 kiosk stands to the south of the entrance of Mount Street Gardens, along with another K2 to the north. The gardens were formerly St George's Hanover Square Gardens which were laid out in 1889-90 on a disused parish burial ground.
REASON FOR DESIGNATION: The K2 telephone kiosk is designated for the following principal reasons: * Design: The K2 represents a milestone in industrial design, a highly successful adaptation of architectural tradition to contemporary technological requirements designed by a leading C20 architect, and is thus of special architectural and historic interest; * Rarity: K2s were not produced in very high numbers and are now relatively scarce. The K2, almost exclusive to London, is a highly distinctive feature of the capital's streetscape; * Group value: Other listed buildings in the vicinity include another K2 to the north of the entrance to Mount Street Gardens, the gate piers to the gardens and Liddon House (all Grade II), and Grosvenor Chapel (Grade II*).
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 427416
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
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