K8 TELEPHONE KIOSK

K8 TELEPHONE KIOSK, KNOWLANDS

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

A telephone kiosk built of six cast iron parts and an aluminium door. Three sides of the kiosk, including the door, contain large sheets of toughened glass set in rectangular frames with rounded corners. The kiosk has a square plan with a flat roof dome that is glazed with toughened glass on four sides with rectangular panes, again with rounded corners, each bearing the word 'TELEPHONE' on a white background. The kiosk is painted red. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1395511
Date first listed:: 01-Nov-2010
List Entry Name:: K8 TELEPHONE KIOSK
Statutory Address:: K8 TELEPHONE KIOSK, KNOWLANDS

25th September 2022 ©Paul Bottomley : thek6project.co.uk — Uploaded by thek6project.co.uk This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1395511
Date first listed:: 01-Nov-2010
List Entry Name:: K8 TELEPHONE KIOSK
Statutory Address 1:: K8 TELEPHONE KIOSK, KNOWLANDS

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: K8 TELEPHONE KIOSK, KNOWLANDS

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Swindon (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Highworth
National Grid Reference:: SU 20435 93302

Reasons for Designation

The K8 telephone kiosk on Knowlands, Highworth, Swindon merits listing at grade II for the following principal reasons:

* It is a rare survival of this type of once common telephone kiosk, first introduced in 1968. * Its design by Bruce Martin for the General Post Office displayed innovative construction techniques resulting in an interesting translation of Scott's iconic design for the K2 and K6, and is the last in the series of red telephone kiosks. * It contributes to the understanding of the historic development of the telecommunications industry and the use of public telephone kiosks before the introduction and widespread use of mobile phones.

Details

HIGHWORTH

984/0/10022 KNOWLANDS 01-NOV-10 K8 Telephone Kiosk

II A telephone kiosk built of six cast iron parts and an aluminium door. Three sides of the kiosk, including the door, contain large sheets of toughened glass set in rectangular frames with rounded corners. The kiosk has a square plan with a flat roof dome that is glazed with toughened glass on four sides with rectangular panes, again with rounded corners, each bearing the word 'TELEPHONE' on a white background. The kiosk is painted red.

HISTORY: The K8 was built to a design by Bruce Martin following a competition held by the General Post Office (GPO) in 1965. Bruce Martin (1917-) studied engineering at the University of Hong Kong before qualifying in architecture at the Architectural Association. He worked for the architectural department at Hertfordshire County Council and became part of the group that was responsible for the so-called 'Hertfordshire Experiment', a progressive primary school building plan using pioneering construction techniques, pre-fabricated buildings and a child-centred design focus.

In relation to the K8, the main requirement within the GPO's design brief was that it should be easy to re-assemble on site and easy to maintain and/or repair in the future. This condition was met, and unlike the K6, the K8 was given interchangeable components. The design brief also stated that the kiosk had to last for at least 50 years and that its design had to be recognised as the UKs next generation of red telephone boxes. As a result, Bruce Martin analysed Scott's K6 meticulously and simplified and reduced its high number of components. Eventually, the K8 was given only 7 principal components with a choice of two types of roofs: a lozenge shape and a cast-line, of which this is the latter. The reasons for this are unknown, but both varieties were used. The K8 first appeared on the streets in 1968 and by 1983, 11,000 had been manufactured for the UK by the Lion Foundry, of which now only 12 have survived.

SOURCES: British Telecom, Britain's Public Payphones - A Social History (1984) G Stamp, Telephone Boxes: Curiosities of the British Street (1989) N Johansson, Telephone Boxes (1994) Post Office Magazine (August 1966) RIBA Journal (August 1969), 320-325 British Telecom, Catalogue of Payphone Housings (1982), 1 C Aslet and A Powers, The British Telephone Box... take it as red (for the Thirties Society, 1985) The Magazine of the Twentieth Century Society (Spring 2007) 4-7 The Architect's Journal (30 January 2008) (accessed online) www.bt.com/archives

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The K8 on Knowlands, Highworth, Swindon is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

* It is a rare survival of this type of once common telephone kiosk, first introduced in 1968. * Its design by Bruce Martin for the General Post Office displayed innovative construction techniques resulting in an interesting translation of Scott's iconic design for the K2 and K6, and is the last in the series of red telephone kiosks. * It contributes to the understanding of the historic development of the telecommunications industry and the use of public telephone kiosks before the introduction and widespread use of mobile phones.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 503313
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.