The K3 was born in 1927 and was a variation on Scott's original design, by Scott himself. Although a successful design, two issues counted against the K2: it's cost and it's size. It was too expensive to produce and transport outside London and had a large footprint. The K3 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.
The K2 has proved too expensive to produce and too large for use outside of London and 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. 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.
However, as they were made of concrete they proved fragile; few examples survive. Remarkably a few suriviors can be found in the UK, one resides in the save environs of London Zoo's parrot house. Elsewhere a K3 kiosk forms part of the National Telephone Kiosk Collection at the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
