The K1 of 1920 was the first attempt at a standard kiosk and was introduced by the Post Office, the company then responsible for the fledgling telephone network. Designed by Somerville & Company, and produced for the sum of £35, an initial batch of fifty kiosks were produced. Constructed of pre-cast concrete, the K1 featured a pyramidal form roof topped with a finial.

The K1 continued in use, altered in 1924, featuring different windows and a roof featuring a wrought ironwork spear and scrolls and a "Telephone" sign, but lacked any illumination of her telephone sign. In appearance the design appeared somewhat temporary and lacked the solidity of later kiosk designs.

The design was not universally appreciated within the Post Office so they looked into an alternative design for a universal kiosk. Her successor - the K2 - was first installed from 1926, but as that kiosk was expensive to produce the K1 was installed in rural areas until 1931.

> Photograph of Kiosk No 1 (Links to Images page)

The K2 design came from a Post Office competition in 1924, requiring designers to come up with plans for a new standard kiosk to succeed the various designs proliferating across the country. The winning design, which arrived on the streets of Britain in 1926, was a design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.

Giles Gilbert Scott originally intended for this kiosk to be painted silver, with a blue-green interior. However the Post Office decided to paint the kiosks red so that they would be easily recognisable in case of emergencies, but also presumably to increase visibility generally.

Due to cost, some 1,500 examples were installed almost wholly in London. The first order for Gilbert Scott's kiosk cost around £50 per kiosk. The design of the K2 is a masterpiece. A classical-influenced design for a utilitarian piece of street furniture, the K2 is a beautiful design and an architectural triumph.

> Photograph of Kiosk No 2 (Links to Images page)

The K3 was born in 1927 and was a variation on Scott's original design, by Scott himself. It was specifically designed to be a cheaper kiosk, but it also maintained the design flair of the K2 in a simplified form. Instead of being manufactured out of cast-iron, the K3 was constructed out of pre-cast concrete.

Rural communities were alarmed by the vivid red-colour of the K2 so the K3 was painted in cream paint with red glazing bars. This use of red glazing bars and different colours was employed on successive kiosk designs in rural areas across the country.

The K2 was a success but proved too expensive to produce and too large for use outside of London. On this basis the K3 was designed for use outside of the capital and especially in rural areas. In six years in the region of 12,000 K3 kiosks were installed nationwide. However, as they were made of concrete they proved fragile; few examples survive.

> Photograph of Kiosk No 3 (Links to Images page)

The K4 was not a Scott design, but was the produced in-house within the Post Office engineering department. Introduced in 1927, the K4 was half as large as a K2 again and combined a telephone kiosk with a Post Office; the first full-automated twenty-four hour postal service. Behind the kiosk there were two stamp machines and a postbox, illuminated by a lamp attached to the an elongated K2 domed roof.

The kiosk was rectangular in cross-section, the longer side sported an illuminated sign saying "Post Office" one shorter side "Stamps" and above the door "Telephone".

It was christened the "Vermillion Giant" as the K4 proved too large for many streets, the stamp machines were excessively noisy during telephone conversations and the machines were not weather-proof. Ultimately the design proved unsuccessful and only fifty were ever produced.

> Photograph of Kiosk No 4 (Links to Images page)

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