The Architecture of Telephone Exchanges

Technological advances are rapidly rendering telephone exchange equipment obsolete, along with the buildings designed to accommodate it.

Telephone exchange buildings are now leased or sold for change use or complete redevelopment at an increasing rate, with remarkably little attention paid to their architectural value. They are generally unobtrusive, everyday buildings easily overlooked or even forgotten.

The standard types and modular construction may not have captured the general public’s imagination, but these buildings have nonetheless played a significant part in shaping our modern way of life.