This iconic English telephone box located in Victoria Square, Christchurch is a 1920s K2 model. It was saved from removal following the 1988 ‘Telephone Box War’, a protest led by ‘The Wizard’ of Christchurch, who objected to Telecom painting the traditional red boxes their corporate blue.
The K2 and K6 were designed by British architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880 – 1960), the K2 being designed in 1924 and manufactured until 1936. They were constructed from cast iron sections with the exception of the door which was made from teak and at a cost of thirty five pounds they were ultimately deemed too expensive to produce. 1700 of these were made and only a few of the K2 boxes were imported into New Zealand in 1927.
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed The Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, The University of Cambridge Library and Waterloo Bridge, was a renowned English architect known for blending Gothic tradition with 20th Century modernism. He came from a notable family of architects in which both his father and grandfather made important contributions to English architecture.
Combining a utilitarian object with elements of traditional architectural design made the K2 telephone box a significant example of British industrial design.