WHAT WAS A DERELICT PHONE KIOSK IS NOW BELFAST'S SMALLEST ART GALLERY
REBORN FROM THE FOUR CORNERS - A RED K6 TELEPHONE KIOSK AND THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS [UPDATED JULY 2026]
This phone kiosk, situated on North Street at the corner of Waring Street in Belfast, is an iconic example of a 1936 K6 'Jubilee Box' and is a protected listed structure. It stands directly within the historic "Four Corners" area—the ancient crossroads of North Street, Waring Street, Bridge Street, and Donegall Street that once served as the commercial heart of early Belfast and the marker from which all geographical distances from the city were measured.
When first photographed in May 2015, the kiosk was in reasonably good condition and sat adjacent to a brand-new Belfast Bikes docking station. However, by March 2022, the kiosk had fallen into a state of severe neglect, covered in graffiti and dirt, mirroring the stagnation of the derelict building behind it. The accompanying Belfast Bikes docking station had also been entirely removed.
The bike hire scheme at this location proved short-lived. Capitalising on city-wide expansion, the station became operational on 15 April 2015, but was permanently removed between 2018 and 2019. This followed a late-2017 announcement by Belfast City Council to relocate several low-demand city centre docking stations—including North Street, Dunbar Link, and Writers' Square—to areas with higher footfall.
The original network struggled early on with major operational hurdles. In April 2017, the council confirmed that more than a third of the original fleet had been stolen or vandalised within its first two years, costing roughly £1,800 a month in repairs. Local media frequently published grim images of bikes cut clean in half or retrieved from the River Lagan.
Ultimately, that early, poorly managed iteration of the scheme went bust under the weight of these mechanical and vandalism issues. However, the system has since been completely replaced by a vastly superior and highly successful network. Partnering with the specialist operator Beryl, the council launched a thoroughly modernised fleet featuring high-specification, lightweight frames and, critically, the city’s first electric e-bikes. Transitioning away from fragile physical docks to a smarter smartphone-app interface and robust GPS-tracked virtual parking bays, the revived project has proven an overwhelming success, driving down vandalism while recording soaring commuter adoption rates.
For decades, lower North Street was colloquially known as "the street that time passed by." Left outside the city's primary security barriers during the Troubles, it was largely avoided by businesses and shoppers. The area’s decline was deeply compounded by the catastrophic 2004 arson attack on the neighbouring Art Deco North Street Arcade.
However, July 2026 marks a major turning point. The building looming over the kiosk—the historic 1769 Assembly Rooms—was acquired by Belfast City Council in late 2024. In partnership with the World Monuments Fund, the site is undergoing urgent facade conservation, weatherproofing, and structural repairs. As part of these broader public realm improvements at the Four Corners, the listed K6 telephone kiosk has been safely shrouded, repaired, and freshly repainted in its traditional post-box red. The future of the kiosk is securely integrated into the council's heritage-led masterplan, preserved as a historical street feature alongside the multi-million-pound rebirth of the Assembly Rooms.
This phone kiosk, situated on North Street at the corner of Waring Street in Belfast, is an iconic example of a 1936 K6 'Jubilee Box' and is a protected listed structure. It stands directly within the historic "Four Corners" area—the ancient crossroads of North Street, Waring Street, Bridge Street, and Donegall Street that once served as the commercial heart of early Belfast and the marker from which all geographical distances from the city were measured.
When first photographed in May 2015, the kiosk was in reasonably good condition and sat adjacent to a brand-new Belfast Bikes docking station. However, by March 2022, the kiosk had fallen into a state of severe neglect, covered in graffiti and dirt, mirroring the stagnation of the derelict building behind it. The accompanying Belfast Bikes docking station had also been entirely removed.
The bike hire scheme at this location proved short-lived. Capitalising on city-wide expansion, the station became operational on 15 April 2015, but was permanently removed between 2018 and 2019. This followed a late-2017 announcement by Belfast City Council to relocate several low-demand city centre docking stations—including North Street, Dunbar Link, and Writers' Square—to areas with higher footfall.
The original network struggled early on with major operational hurdles. In April 2017, the council confirmed that more than a third of the original fleet had been stolen or vandalised within its first two years, costing roughly £1,800 a month in repairs. Local media frequently published grim images of bikes cut clean in half or retrieved from the River Lagan.
Ultimately, that early, poorly managed iteration of the scheme went bust under the weight of these mechanical and vandalism issues. However, the system has since been completely replaced by a vastly superior and highly successful network. Partnering with the specialist operator Beryl, the council launched a thoroughly modernised fleet featuring high-specification, lightweight frames and, critically, the city’s first electric e-bikes. Transitioning away from fragile physical docks to a smarter smartphone-app interface and robust GPS-tracked virtual parking bays, the revived project has proven an overwhelming success, driving down vandalism while recording soaring commuter adoption rates.
For decades, lower North Street was colloquially known as "the street that time passed by." Left outside the city's primary security barriers during the Troubles, it was largely avoided by businesses and shoppers. The area’s decline was deeply compounded by the catastrophic 2004 arson attack on the neighbouring Art Deco North Street Arcade.
However, July 2026 marks a major turning point. The building looming over the kiosk—the historic 1769 Assembly Rooms—was acquired by Belfast City Council in late 2024. In partnership with the World Monuments Fund, the site is undergoing urgent facade conservation, weatherproofing, and structural repairs. As part of these broader public realm improvements at the Four Corners, the listed K6 telephone kiosk has been safely shrouded, repaired, and freshly repainted in its traditional post-box red. The future of the kiosk is securely integrated into the council's heritage-led masterplan, preserved as a historical street feature alongside the multi-million-pound rebirth of the Assembly Rooms.
K6 AT NORTH STREET JULY 2026