Who designed the iconic British red telephone box?

During his career, English architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960), worked on several buildings, including the New Bodleian Library, Battersea Power Station and Liverpool Cathedral. He blended Gothic and modern styles in his architectural designs, resulting in many well-known landmarks, yet it is not only these buildings for which we remember him. Scott’s most famous creation was the iconic red telephone box, which still appears on streets in the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar.

In 1924, the Royal Fine Art Commission asked architects to submit ideas for the General Post Office’s new public telephone box. The first standard public telephone kiosk, installed in 1921, did not meet everyone’s approval in London, so they wanted to find a design that suited the London Metropolitan Boroughs. Scott based his entry on the dome of the mausoleum belonging to the neo-classical architect, John Soane (1753-1837).

The Post Office selected Scott’s entry as the winning design, although they wished to make a few changes. Whilst they kept the shape, they decided to paint it red like their postboxes, rather than silver with a greeny-blue interior as Scott suggested. By 1926, the new telephone boxes appeared on the streets of London. Over time, alterations were made, but the general shape of Scott’s design remains the same.