London Calling: The Liebherr “fridge telephone box” is back

The original London telephone box and the Liebherr “fridge telephone box” have even more in common than the design. They are the result of design competitions from which both emerged as clear winners. In 1924, British architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed the original box in a competition for the Royal Mail. It was originally designed in silver. However, it was decided to paint the phone boxes red so that they could be easily recognised even from a distance. So, quite unintentionally, the Royal Mail had played its part in the creation of this iconic designer piece.

Liebherr saw just how popular the London telephone box still is today when the company launched a design competition on the Internet in 2015 with the slogan “Design Your Fridge”. The participants were able to create their own design for a refrigerator and upload their ideas onto a platform. More than 3,000 designs were received and evaluated by the Internet community. Following a multi-stage selection process, the “fridge telephone box” finally won. This was then made available for purchase in limited quantities in Germany and Austria.

Outside “retro”, ultramodern inside

Five years later and there were still many enquiries from customers about the “very British” fridge-freezer with NoFrost technology. Also, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the death of the telephone box designer, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. “We are using this as an opportunity to offer the “fridge telephone box” a new edition,” says Steffen Nagel, Managing Director Sales & Marketing of Liebherr-Hausgeräte GmbH. As he continues to explain, “There's an increasing trend towards individualisation. Lots of people want to add a very personal touch to their kitchens. With exceptional design appliances such as this, we are fulfilling this wish.” While the “fridge telephone box” is “retro” on the outside, its inner values are ultra modern. The appliance, for example, can be conveniently controlled via a SmartDeviceBox using a computer or mobile devices.

The fridge telephone box is also available with immediate effect in the Liebherr Online Store at home.liebherr.com. You will find the appliance under the model name CNsl 43C3.