Phone Repair Shop Opens in London Phone Booth

A range of individuals and companies across the UK have been working to repurpose the country’s iconic, but largely obsolete, red phone booths. In the past, different organizations have turned the beloved booths into everything from miniature salad bars to tiny libraries. And now, Dezeen reports, a company called Lovefone has found a particularly fitting use for the old phone booths: They’re transforming them into tiny smartphone repair shops.

So far, Lovefone has only opened one smartphone repair booth, though they have plans to launch 35 more across London. The booths will provide smartphone repair services for people on the go, as well as free charging stations for passersby. The Lovefone website claims that the repair shops will be equipped to fix a range of Apple and Android products, usually in just half an hour.

According to Lovefone CEO Robert Kerr, opening a smartphone repair shop in a tiny phone booth presented a unique, but rewarding, design challenge. "Our aim was to create an environment that didn't seem or appear crowded despite the fact that we needed to fit in all the equipment, parts and storage for what is in effect a tiny shop," he told Dezeen. "We also want to keep the windows of the box as open as possible so members of the public can see inside."