There are companies in the UK that specialise in the restoration of many different models of phone boxes, but the K6 is the most popular – you could pick up one of these little bits of England for around £5,000 (fully working and restored) or about £850 (unrestored).

They have made their way into gardens, been adapted into bars and ingeniously converted into the ultimate shower cubicle. A basic telephone box shower can be used outdoors in a garden, near sports courts, besides a pool, or on the beach to wash the sand and seawater away.

Fancy something a bit more refined? An advanced telephone box shower can include a shower basin, mirrored tiles on the back splash, and tiles surround the basin allowing room for shower accessories!

Kingston upon Thames Council commissioned artist David Mach to create this public sculpture from old K6 telephone boxes, 1999
©TopFoto.co.uk

Phone box as art

Given the red telephone box’s ultra familiar status as street furniture, it comes as no surprise that it has been re-appropriated as public art.

Kingston upon Thames is the rather unlikely home to a sculpture of tumbling telephones. Called Out Of Order, artist David Mach has positioned 12 kiosks leaning against each other in a domino effect. It has divided opinion, with shopkeepers saying it is bad for business, while the artist maintains that most people do like the piece that was the hardest sculpture he has ever made.

No stranger to controversy is the guerilla artist Banksy. A piece of his called Melting Phone Box was shown in the Laz Inc gallery in Soho where a kiosk appeared to be sinking into the ground. The classic red phone box has been slowly disappearing from London's streets and this version seemed to emphasise their demise while taking the term "vandalised phone box" to a whole new level.

In April 2006, Banksy revealed his latest stunt – a crumpled red phone box with a pickaxe lodged in its side and what looked like blood oozing over the ground. The exhibit was placed in a Soho street but later removed by Westminster Council. 

An astute BT spokesman said, "This is a stunning visual comment on BT's transformation from an old-fashioned telecommunications company into a modern communications services provider." There were rumours that the company wanted to have the sculpture in the reception of the headquarters. 

Less contentious is the unusual phone box outside the old Telephone Exchange building in Maida Vale. Unicorn Kiosk Restoration welded two K6 boxes together to make a giant example 12ft high. This striking landmark is dressed with a unique jubilee interior fitted on Italian marble and black velvet drapes! These fittings reflect those inside the converted building created by top designer Philippe Starck.