Editing Red telephone box (section)

=== K2 ===
[[File:Prototype K2 telephone kiosk to western side of entrance portal of Burlington House.jpg|thumb|upright|Prototype K2 at [[Burlington House]] (home of the [[Royal Academy of Arts]]) in London]]

The red telephone box was the result of a competition in 1924 to design a kiosk that would be acceptable to the London Metropolitan Boroughs which had hitherto resisted the Post Office's effort to erect K1 kiosks on their streets.<ref>Stamp 1989, pp. 4–7.</ref>

The [[Royal Fine Art Commission]] was instrumental in the choice of the British standard kiosk. Because of widespread dissatisfaction with the GPO's design, the Metropolitan Boroughs Joint Standing Committee organised a competition for a superior one in 1923, but the results were disappointing. [[The Birmingham Civic Society]] then produced a design of its own—in reinforced concrete—but it was informed by the Director of Telephones that the design produced by the Office of the Engineer-in-Chief was preferred; as the ''[[Architects' Journal]]'' commented, "no one with any knowledge of design could feel anything but indignation with the pattern that seems to satisfy the official mind".<ref>Stamp 1989, p. 5.</ref> [[The Birmingham Civic Society]] did not give up and, with additional pressure from the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]], the [[Town Planning Institute]] and the [[Royal Academy]], the [[Postmaster General of the United Kingdom|Postmaster General]] was forced to think again; and the result was that the RFAC organised a limited competition.

[[File:2778soaneMausoleumOldStPancrasChurchyard.jpg|thumb|left|The dome of Sir [[John Soane]]'s family mausoleum in [[St Pancras Old Church#Churchyard|St Pancras Old Churchyard]], London, may have been an inspiration for the K2's design.]]
The organisers invited entries from three respected architects and, along with the designs from the Post Office and from [[The Birmingham Civic Society]], the Fine Arts Commission judged the competition and selected the design submitted by Sir [[Giles Gilbert Scott]].<ref>New Telephone Kiosks", ''The Times'', 28 March 1925, p. 9</ref> The invitation had come at the time when Scott had been made a trustee of [[Sir John Soane's Museum]]: his design for the competition was in the classical style, but topped with a dome reminiscent of those designed by [[John Soane|Soane]] for his own family [[mausoleum]] in [[St Pancras Old Church#Churchyard|St Pancras Old Churchyard]], and for the mausoleum for Sir [[Francis Bourgeois (painter)|Francis Bourgeois]] at [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]], both in London.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/nov/23/sir-john-soane-how-tomb-for-architects-wife-inspired-the-red-telephone-box |first=Maev |last=Kennedy |author-link=Maev Kennedy |title=Sir John Soane: how tomb for architects wife inspired the red telephone box |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=23 November 2015 |access-date=27 October 2017 }}</ref> However, [[Gavin Stamp]] thinks it "unlikely" that Scott was directly inspired by either of these precedents, arguing instead that "a dome above segmental curves is, in fact, a logical solution to the geometrical problem of designing a sculptural termination to a square pillar when a flat top is not suitable".<ref>Stamp 1989, pp. 9–10.</ref>

[[File:Red Public Phone Boxes - Covent Garden, London, England - July 10, 2012.JPG|thumb|Cast iron K2 kiosks on Broad Court, [[Covent Garden]], London]]
The original wooden prototypes of the entries were later put into public service at under-cover sites around London. That of Scott's design is the only one known to survive and is still where it was originally placed, in the left entrance arch to the [[Royal Academy]] at [[Burlington House]]. In 2019, it was [[Listed building|listed to Grade II*]] in "recognition of its iconic design status".<ref name="Listed">{{cite news |title=UK's iconic first red public telephone box listed |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-iconic-first-red-public-telephone-box-listed |access-date=13 January 2025 |work=Gov.uk}}</ref>

The Post Office chose to make Scott's winning design in [[cast iron]] (Scott had suggested [[plain-carbon steel|mild steel]]) and to paint it red (Scott had suggested silver, with a "greeny-blue" interior) and, with other minor changes of detail, it was brought into service as the Kiosk No.2 or K2. From 1926 K2 was deployed in and around London and the K1 continued to be erected elsewhere.