London's Phone Boxes Find Many Odd Uses

The article “London's Phone Boxes Find Many Odd Uses,” authored by Matt Brown for Londonist, looks at the interesting and downright odd uses that Londoners have for the now out-of-commission red telephone box.

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and the K2 box

The red telephone box is perhaps Scott’s most famous work. It is a great design, ranked by many as one of the most iconic British designs ever.

Giles Gilbert Scott envisioned his telephone boxes serving as a vital communication tool for ordinary folk. Little did he know that, more than 50 years on, they would be used as shrubberies, libraries, coffee machines and cash machines. Matt Brown looks at some of the most interesting uses for the red telephone box, officially known as the K2 box.

The K2 red telephone box’s odd uses

He starts with the Lewisham Micro Library – a library that’s contained in the footprint of a red telephone box on the corner of Loampit Hill and Tyrwhitt Road. If that’s a bit too ordinary for you, how about this - Scottish artist David Mach created artwork in Kingston in 1988 depicting a series of tumbling phone boxes.

Other odd uses for the red telephone box in London include as a shrubbery and as a cash machine. Bizarrely, several sewn-up K2 boxes were on view in the Olympic Park during the London 2012 games. These were set along walking trails.

To view more odd uses for the red telephone box, check out the original article on Londonist.