Early 20th Century British Police Public Call Box (AKA the TARDIS) Garden Tool Shed.

Welcome dear reader.

In this Instructable, I will show you how I built my garden tool shed using the design of the early 20^th century Mackenzie Trench Police Public Call Box, AKA The TARDIS. The reason for building this shed... to store my garden tools and my mobility scooter. The reason for this shape/size… because I needed a size that would comfortably store what I needed while taking up a small footprint, and the reasons for the design… because I wanted to have a bit of fun with the look instead of having a standard looking shed, I have always liked this police box design, and yes, I am a Doctor Who fan too.

From seeing it in the Sci-Fi TV show as a kid, to having the chance to see a couple up close in real life, the design of this call box has always interested me because it has this certain style that although pretty simplistic, just has this certain charm and elegance to it, and while they were in operation, served an important and practical roll in England and Scotland. And with the TARDIS “it’s bigger on the inside” thing aside, these small boxes actually referred to as a mini police station, actually had enough room inside to be practical for a few reasons. And it’s worth mentioning for those who don’t know, the TARDIS was not actually a phone box. It was a time and space travelling machine, and the Police Public Call Box look was just one of many many potential external disguises it could form in to, to blend in with it’s surroundings… when it worked properly.

A Brief History Lesson:

The first police phones that the public could use were a cast-iron hexagonal shape box, painted red, had a large gas lantern on the top, and a phone where only trusted members of the public had access to. These were found in Glasgow, Scotland in 1891, with an updated rectangle shape box that only the police could use that came into use in 1912. Following that in 1923, a rectangular style box made of wood could be found in Sunderland, England and then 1925 found in Newcastle. These were introduced by Chief Constable Frederick J. Crawley and were looked at as a miniature police station where any member of the public could contact the police as well as the Ambulance and Fire services.

It was in 1929 when the Metropolitan Police started using police call boxes with a newer (and the more familiar) design which was created by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench, a met Police architect and surveyor, and eventually 685 boxes were installed around London with a further 323 in Glasgow. These newer Mackenzie Trench boxes were made mostly of concrete with a single wooden “teak” door (I actually always thought there were completely wooden until I saw my first one in real life). As well as a phone to contact the local police station, these police call boxes included a small table, a stool, sometimes a kettle for hot drinks and a small electric heater which was much needed as police officers that used these boxes complained that the concrete made the boxes cold and damp. Also included in the boxes were a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and like the older boxes from Glasgow, they also had a light (now electric) on the top of the box that would flash when the local station would call the boxes phone to let police officers know to contact their station, or be activated by a member of the public to attract an officer’s attention. Throughout my research, I could never find a definite answer to the colour of the light. While the lantern housing was blue, some say the colour of the light was also blue, with others say that is was white, and even a couple of people citing that it was a red light. In Doctor Who, you can see the light is white, but from initially having mine with a white light, I decided to change mine to blue as that says “Police” to me.

The miniature police station design allowed police officers to take breaks during their shift as well as somewhere to read and write their reports, and to also hold anybody they had captured and wait for transport to arrive. The police boxes were mainly painted blue, while the ones in Glasgow were painted red, but subsequently re-painted blue in the late 1960’s, apparently due to the growing popularity of Doctor Who. The look of some of these boxes differed a depending on where they were in the country which was at the discretion of each police force. It was around the early 1970’s that the police public call boxes started to be phased out due to the use of new two way radio systems and the introduction of the 999 emergency services phone number.

As the police boxes were phased out, of course it would not be the last time the public would see the basic Trent design box on a regular basis. When Doctor Who was being developed in 1963, it was staff writer Anthony Coburn who came up with the look for the time and space machine. This was due to having a design that would be within the show’s budget, and because the Trent phone box design was very common place, this would work well for a time and space ship that could disguise itself to it’s surroundings when visiting Earth in the 20^th century. In the show, the TARDIS would stay in the police box form due to the “Chameleon Circuit” device that changes the disguise, being broken, yet in reality over the years, the look of the TARDIS would change a bit due to filming requirements and damage to the prop This would include the overall measurements, shade of blue paint used, the signs used, and the shape of the roof. That’s the end of our lesson.

So back to my build. There are various sources online which give measurements for prop replica builds which all differ somewhat, so I looked at these, keeping in mind of the inside usable space I needed, then decided on the overall size to make my shed. And shying away slightly from the actual Trent design and like the TV prop, I opted to make mine from wood instead of concrete as it would be easier to work with, be more cost effective, and would be perfectly strong enough for my purposes, although I did use 4 concrete paving slabs for the inner base for sturdiness and weight.

It is interesting how people who see it refer to it, as it’s either “Cool, you’ve built a police box” or “Wow, you made a TARDIS” (normally it’s the younger generation who refer to it as TARDIS), but either way it always raises a smile. For me, I have the best of both worlds, an iconic Sci-Fi prop replica from a show I grew up with, and a replica of a piece of early 20^th century history that I have always liked the look of, and what I personally think still has a style that looks good and does not look out of place in the 21^st century. So let’s get on with the build.

With the original electric roof lanterns producing a white flashing light, I opted to use a blue static LED light, blue because I simply wanted a blue light, and a static light because I though a flashing light my be a little distracting at night for the couple of neighbours who can see it, although they have all said “You should make it a flashing light”, so I may add a flash circuit in the future. I also did not add box and replica phone in the front panel because I wanted to keep as much space as possible inside. The original Trent phone box only had one door open on the front with the other panel housing the phone and sometimes a first aid kit below the phone cabinet, but I made the front of mine to have 2 doors so I had easy access for my mobility scooter. I also opted to use clear acrylic sheets for the windows instead of the off glass which is lighter, stronger and safer, and adhesive vinyl stripes for the window panel framing instead of metal which the original Trent phone box design used.

I didn’t use many tools to make this shed and using plenty of reference material I found online, it was not a particularly difficult build either. So lets start with the tools and materials I used for this early 20^th Century British Police Public Call Box Garden Tool Shed. A piece of 20^th century history and still a cultural icon to this day.

Tools and Materials:

Tools:

I only really used a few tools to make the box, nothing special. Here’s what I used…

1. Power drill/driver and selection of drill and Philips (cross head) driver bits
2. Small selection of external Philips (cross) head screws. I specificity used 60mm and 75mm decking screws and a selection of shorter external screws.
3. Handheld circular saw
4. Tape measure
5. Ruler
6. Pencil
7. Jigsaw
8. 2 long ratchet wood clamps
9. 2 small wood clamps
10. A straight edge (I have a 150cm (59.06in) length of scrap aluminium I use)
11. A Hammer
12. Titebond 3 internal/external wood glue (Titebond 3 is my preferred choice but any good external wood glue will do)
13. A paint brush to evenly spread the glue
14. Fine grit sand paper and sanding block
15. Masking tape
16. Small tube of wood filler
17. External flexible sealant
18. Exact o’ knife and blades
19. Paint brush, small roller and small paint roller tray. (there are a lot of recesses on the finished build so a smaller roller is better to use that a large one, but you could also brush paint the whole thing).
20. Step ladder
21. And I did borrow a chop saw to cut the thicker 100mm x 100mm (4x4”) timber to size.

And remember… measure twice… cut once, or in my case, measure many times. And please use the appropriate safety precautions were necessary.

Timber:

1. 18mm x 1220 x 2400 reclaimed Marine plywood sheets
2. 100mm x 100mm (4 x 4”) treated timber (box and base frames)
3. 50mm x 50mm x 2400mm
4. 25mm x 50mm x 2400mm treated timber
5. 25mm x 75mm x 2400mm
6. 15mm x 15mm x 1800mm

Clear Acrylic for Windows and Signs:

1. 8 x 3mm Clear Acrylic 460mm x 460mm (windows)
2. 4 x 3mm Clear Acrylic 150mm x 920mm (upper call box signs)

Paint:

I went for the English blue rather than the Glasgow red colour because it was the more recognisable police box colour, blue would look better in my garden than red, there was also the TARDIS thing, and I like the shade of blue used. A quick mention about the shade of blue: From the actual police call boxes to the TV show props, the shade of blue differs somewhat. The first built boxes were a light blue which was the City of London’s official colour and shade, but later a darker blue was used to more match the Metropolitan Police’s colour scheme. The TARDIS also differs in blue shades as the years with the change or re-generation of some of the Doctor’s went on.

I wanted the darker blue to more match the Met police and Tennant/Smith Doctors colour scheme. After doing some testing, I finally went for two coats of a Royal blue which was a very vibrant dark blue, and a much more muted blue which had a bit of a grey look. Two coats of the royal blue first, the one coat of the blue/grey as the final top coat and I was very pleased with the end result. The richness of the Royal blue comes through the top coat leaving a muted Royal blue look without it being too vibrant. For the inside, I went for a blue floor (the same as the outside), and a satin white everywhere else because I like the blue/white contrast, but to also reflect the inside light so all of the signage and frosted windows would have an even bright light shining through. The difference and availability of paints will vary from country to country, but here’s what I used…

1. Ronseal Royal Blue Satin Weatherproof Wood Paint 750ml Qty 2
2. Cuprinol Garden Shades Matt wood Treatment, Iris 750ml Qty 1
3. Ronseal White Satin Weatherproof Wood Paint 750ml qty 1

Additional Materials:

1. 4 x 50mm x 600mm x 600mm concrete paving slabs
2. 8 x Clear Acrylic sheet: 5mm x 460mm x 460mm
3. 4 x Clear Acrylic sheet: 5mm x 150mm x 920mm
4. Clear opaque (frosted effect) window film (windows)
5. White opaque window film (upper call box sign letters)
6. 10mm Matt white adhesive vinyl stripe roll (window framing)
7. Spring Steel Tool Clips
8. 4 x large door hinges
9. 2 x door handles (one inside and one outside)
10. 2 x inside door bolts (for left hand door)
11. 1 x outer door latch/lock
12. Solar powered lantern (for the roof)
13. Blue lighting gels (for the lantern. I could have swapped out the lanterns white LED for a Blue LED but I already had a pack of gels left over from another project.)
14. Solar powered LED garden light (for the inside)
15. Multi voltage mains adapter (to eventually power the lights)
16. 4 gang mains extension lead (for the lights and to recharge my mobility scooter)
17. Smart plug (to control the lights)
18. 4 x Large Police Public Call Box Vinyl sticker signs
19. Metal Police Public call box sign (to go on the left hand door)
20. Round shaped acrylic St Johns Ambulance Sign (to go on the right hand door)
21. Sweet Home 3D for planning

A Couple of Notes:

The reasons for the multi voltage adapter for the lights was because of the U.K weather, I adapted the solar lights to run of mains power with a timer. More on this later.

Throughout the build, wherever possible I tried to screw from the inside out so as not to have screw heads showing from the outside. The design of the box and size of timber used made this relatively easy to achieve.

When using the external wood glue, make sure to spread/brush it over the pieces to be attached so the glue has full coverage. This makes for better adhesion and helps add to making the structure water tight.

Due to the nature of wood, the measurements I have given in this Instructable should really only be used as a guide as your results may differ slightly. For the overall framework it’s not really an issue, but for the doors, outer frame pattern etc. then using a tape measure and checking your own measurements is advised.

And please use all of the necessary safety precautions.

I use Metric as my choice of measuring system as I grew up with it and used Metric in this Instructable. But if you prefer to use Imperial and need some conversion assistance, I have included a handy conversion website on the following link...

Metric to Imperial Converter

I have also included some links below which will take you to sites that offer measurements and some historical information for the police public call boxes...

The Telephone Box

The Mind Robber

TARDIS Builders

PoliceBoxes.com

Wikipedia

Using sheets of ply and a circular saw, I measured, marked and cut out sections to make a two square to form the base section measuring 164cm x 164cm square.

Then I cut some lengths of 25mm x 50mm timber… two lengths at 164cm and two lengths at 159cm for the outer base, then two lengths at another 159cm and two at 154cm for the inner base.

I glued and screwed the two 164cm lengths to each side of one square section of the ply, then added two 159cm lengths to the other ends.

Following this I then attached the other lengths to the inside of the outer lengths so I now had a 50mm x 50mm outer base frame. I then cut 3 more lengths of 25mm x 50mm timber to fit inside the frame to make 4 equal square spaces and dropped in the paving slabs. The slabs would make a weighted foundation and a solid floor and were pushed towards the centre of the base making room for the four corner pillars to be fitted soon.

On the remaining sheets of ply, I cut out 4 square holes measuring 100mm x 100mm located at 5cm in from each edge. These where then attached to the base finishing the base section off for now.

NOTE: What I needed when finished was a 130cm x 130cm square space inside the shed to fit my 125cm long mobility scooter with 5cm excess space. So all external measurements were made keeping this in mind while trying to keep to original dimensions.

Next was start making the frame work for the structure. I started by inserting the four 100mm x 100mm timber lengths into the four cut out squares in the base to make the four corner pillars. These were glued and screwed through the sides of the base frame.

The next job was to make the four upper frames where the Police Public Call Box signs would be located. The frames were made using some more 25mm x 50mm timber and the finished frames measured 50mm x 200mm x 1340mm. These were then glued, clamped then screwed into the corner pillars.

Four further sign frames were then made slightly longer than the other four, the length measuring 1390mm. These were then attached to the outside of the other frames making sure they were equally slightly overlapping the pillars as per the original Mackenzie Trench design.

I then added a couple more small lengths of 25mm x 50mm timber and fitted them upright, equally spaced from the ends so I ended up with the main space measuring 92cm long and 15cm high, the size up the acrylic panels I would fit later. All that was left was to cut and fit some lengths of 15mm x 15mm timber to the outside edge in the inner main space for the acrylic to attach to. The remaining spaces of each side of the main signage housing was covered with some 5mm ply (wood glue and brad nails).

To finish off the frame work, eight lengths of 50mm x 50mm timber were cut to 2130mm then attached, recessed, to the corner pillars. As part of the original design, these would also be used to attach the plywood side walls and doors.

I had my four pawed building inspector check my work. I think she approved.

With the structural frame work completed, it was time to start fitting the back and side panels. Because of the size of ply sheets I had available, I had to make each side with a lower and upper panel. I started with the lower panels cutting, gluing and screwing them into place. The lower side panels measured 136cm wide and 124cm tall. The upper side panels were 136cm wide and 90cm tall. The lower back panel was 132cm wide and 124cm tall and the upper one was 132cm wide and 90cm tall.

Then I cut the upper panels to the same sizes, but this time making cut outs for the windows measuring 430mm square (the 3mm acrylic window panels I used, I ordered cut to size at 460mm square, leaving a 150mm excess all around to attach to the inner side panels later).

With the windows cutouts done and sanded smooth, the upper panels were then fitted into place.

Next I moved onto the doors. As I mentioned in the intro, the original Trent boxes only had one door made from teak, and this door opened outwards unlike the TARDIS TV prop that opened inwards. But to utilise all of the inside floor space, and for easier access, I opted to make two doors that opened outwards.

Two full length ply panels were cut out measuring 212cm tall and 64.5cm wide, and window panels cut out measuring the same as the side panels. Next was to cut 4 lengths of 25mm x 75mm 2120mm and attach them to each side of the door panels, then I cut 4 lengths of 25mm x 50mm x 2120mm timber, attaching them upright to each end of the doors, and one attached to the right hand door. This is the first door to be opened when gaining access, and this upright also hides the gap between the two doors, keeping water out. A fourth upright was then attached to the inside of the left hand door, shaving 9mm off one end off the upright to take into account of the 9mm top floor layer.

Then two outer opening door hinges were fitted to the outside of each door.

Doing one door at a time, they were places sitting on a piece of 5mm ply, then the hinges screwed into the box’s frame then removed the 5mm ply the doors were sitting on.

TOP TIP: Make sure that you leave at least a 5mm gap all around the doors to the frame to account for wood swelling/expanding in damp weather conditions. These gaps will be waterproofed in the next step.

As I was using reclaimed Marine plywood sheets and only had a limited amount that I had purchased, some of the edges started to delaminate so these had to be cut off. This meant that when cutting the side panels out leaving only good usable wood then fitting them, I was left with a visible join between the upper and lower back and side panels (as you will see in the photos). I did seal this to make it waterproof in a later step. I would have liked to of covered this join using the timber I used later to make the pattern design I would fit later. Although not done yet (at time of writing this) I will remedy this by using some 5mm plywood sheet, cutting them to the size of the square recess, painting them (edges to to seal the wood) and wailing them into place.

This is the step where I added extra support to the panels, added door stops, and waterproofed as much as I could.

First, I went around the inside bottom edges with and weather proof sealant, then I cut and fitted some 9mm Plywood sheet to cover the floor. This would hide the side panel and base joins and also act as a bottom door stop. I went around this with some more sealant (with the exception of the doors).

Along the bottom of the front sign panel, I cut, glued and screwed a length of 25mm x 50mm timber to act as a top door stop.

I then went around all of the inner edges of the box with sealant where needed. More sealant would be needed towards the end of the total build.

The square panels on all sides of the box design is what helps make the distinctive look of the Trent Police boxes. As my build is made from timber and not concrete, this external frame look also helps to add some structure to the large size plywood panels.

I started by cutting 12 lengths of 25mm x 75mm 2130mm, then vertically glued and, from the inside out, screwed these to each corner of the back/side panels.

Then measuring the side/back panels width and marking off the centre, the remaining lengths were attached, side to side, to each side of the centre mark.

For the horizontal pieces, I cut 40 short lengths of some 25mm x 75mm x 480mm and attached them equally spaced to all of the panels and doors.

To finish the patterning off, I cut 9 lengths of 25mm x 50mm x 2130mm timber, attaching them upright to each corner of the side panels, then attaching the remaining uprights to the centre of each side.

Three further lengths of 25mm x 50mm lengths were cut, two lengths measuring 136cm and another at 107cm. These would serve three purposes...

1:To hide and waterproof the join between the upper and lower side/back panels,

2: To act as supports for a shelf that would run across the back wall,

3: Act as a support beam to attach some spring loaded broom/garden tool holder clips.

Some sealant was applied across the panel joins, and when dried, the three timber lengths were glued and screwed to the walls.

Final job for this stage was to cut a length of 18mm ply at 60cm x 107cm, then a length of 25mm x 50mm which was attached to one edge of the ply, then put in place along the back wall and screwed into the cross supports, previously fitted, to make the tool shelf.

At this stage, the main body was now pretty much completed with two functioning doors. Now was the time to add a lick of paint.

In the “Tools and Materials” section above, I mentioned that I used Two coats of the royal blue paint first, the one coat of the blue/grey as the final top coat which ended up looking like I hoped it would. The richness of the Royal blue comes through the top coat leaving a muted Royal blue look without it being too vibrant.

I started off by fine sanding around all of the windows, sign housing edges, and anything else that needed a sanding. Then after a good brushing and dry wiping down, I applied one coat of the Royal blue all around the outside, the inside floor and the edges of the window cutouts. After leaving it to dry for around four hours, I applied a second coats.

The following day I applied one coat of the Iris blue covering everything which was painted/treated with the Royal blue. For the inside floor, I applied two coats of the Iris blue as obviously the floor is what would get heavy use and also would get dirty quicker so the darkness wouldn’t show the dirt/marks up so much as using white paint would.

With the outside done, I applied three coats of a satin white. As mentioned, I really like the contrast of white and blue, but the white also gives the inside a brighter, cleaner look, and the silk effect reflects the inside light really well so all of the signage and frosted windows would have an even bright light shining through.

ADDITIONAL: Three months on, I have now noticed staining on the inside from the reclaimed plywood which was come through the white paint. While not a major issue and still looks reasonably good, I may go over the inside again with some white stain resistant paint to address this. Something to keep in mind when using reclaimed wood.

While waiting for the paint to dry over night, I decided to get to work on the roof lantern. Keeping costs low, after looking around to see what was available in my budget, I found a pair of cheap solar powered garden lanterns from an online retailer which, although not authentic to the original phone box, I thought looked the part with the right period style.

I took the light apart and gave the housing a light sanding, washed and dried, and sprayed the parts with a plastic primer. When dried, like the box I applied the two coats of Royal and one coat of Iris blue.

When dried, I replaced the original 3v warm white LED with a brighter 12v cool white LED and added some length of electrical wire bypassing the solar panel and power switch.

I reassembled the lantern, then screwed in a metal base plate to the bottom of the lantern housing so I could screw it to the roof.

SIDE NOTE: I mentioned above that I ended up having the lantern shine a blue light. I did this by removing the top of the lantern housing then cut and inserted some blue lighting gels (filter card) around the inside of the clear plastic lens cover, then replaced the top to give it the blue light.

Now the box needs a lid. The original Trent boxes had a 4 sided sloping roof, but I took a bit of artistic licence because I wanted a flat roof design as I preferred the look. As my box was sitting on a slight incline, I wasn’t too worried about rain sitting on the flat roof as there was enough of a slope for rain to slowly drain off. To make my roof, I did it in three square sections… a larger lower tier, a smaller upper tier, and a small lantern box.

For the lower tier I cut two lengths of 100mm x 100mm timber to 147cm long, and two more at 137cm long to make a 147cm square frame. This will leave a 1.5cm overlap each side when sitting in top of the box’s frame (police call box sign housings).

Because of the 1220mm width of the plywood board I had, I needed to cut two sections out to make a square top. Once cut, I glued and screwed four timber lengths together to make the square frame, then attached the ply to the frame. The joins of the two cut ply panels were glued along the edges before fitting, the a thin layer of flexible wood filler applied to the top and bottom of the joins. This was lightly sanded smooth when dried. This join was not really an issue because most of it would be covered up by the upper tier.

The smaller upper tier was assembled the same way, this time only using one piece of ply for the top, and the overall square panel measuring 137cm square.

The small lantern box was again assembled the same way, this time measuring 30cm square. A small hole was drilled through the centre of all three tiers to feed the lantern power cable through.

Then, with the upper tier laying up side down, the bottom tier was laid on top making sure its was sitting equally centred on all sides, lifted each side then applied glue and re-seating it making sure it was equally measured again. Then I drove some screws in to securely attach the two tiers.

Turning the Two attached tiers over sitting the right way up, I measured, marked and glued the lantern box to the centre of the upper tier. When the glue had dried, I turned the roof onto it’s side and drove in a few screws for an extra secure hold.

Laying some equal sized pieces of scrap wood on the ground, I laid the roof on top so it sat off the ground and painted it using the same two Royal, 1 Iris blue coat system.

Once the paint was dry, I lifted and supported one side of the roof high enough to get my hand under, the using a small length of solid wire, I fed it through the holes I drilled earlier, the taped the lantern power cable to the end of the wire and fed the cable back through the holes. Then I screwed the lanterns metal base plate to the top box, making sure it was centred.

All that was left was to lift the roof onto the top of the box and secure it. First I got the roof into position onto my decking rail (more on this shortly), the I went around the top of the box frame with some wood glue. Now, I did somehow manage to get the roof on top of the box on my own because I managed to lift the roof onto my garden decking hand rails, then climb up a step ladder and slowly slid/walked the roof up the lower it onto the frame. Then checked all around to make sure it was equally seated in position.

When the roof was in position, a screwed it down from the inside and went around the inside and outside edges with flexible wood sealant making it water tight.

TOP TIP: My advice, please treat this final roof assembly job as at least a two person job with two step ladders as this is a very heavy piece to lift on your own. So please get help with this.

For the windows and the police box signs, I chose to use acrylic as it is lighter and stronger/safer than glass. The original call boxes used six panes of glass per window panel separated and held in with metal framing, but I chose to use a single acrylic window pane with white vinyl adhesive stripes for the window framing instead of the original metal framing. Fun fact, some of the original police boxes had windows that opened slightly. This style of window is called “Hopper” windows which were hinged at the bottom and opened from the top inwards. As I didn’t have the need for opening windows, I fixed mine into place.

With the 8 x Clear Acrylic sheet: 3mm x 460mm x 460mm, I removed the protective coverings and placed them onto a clean work surface. Then I measured and cut 8 slightly oversized (from the acrylic square sizes) squares of clear opaque window film.

Using some soapy water in a trigger squirt bottle, I sprayed a piece of acrylic, removed the backing paper from the window film, sprayed the film then attached it to the acrylic.

Then I used a small plastic squeegee, I smoothed out all of the liquid and air bubbles, lifting and re-applying the film if necessary. Any remaining stubborn air bubbles were dealt with using a pin, piercing the bubbles then going over it with the squeegee.

After drying the window with a cloth, I turned and placed the window onto a cutting surface (I used a scrap piece of PVC sheet I had), Then carefully and slowly cut around the edges of the window with an Exact o’ knife with a fresh blade. I continued to do this with all eight panels, changing the knife blade every two panels. The covered side would be the inside of the windows.

On the other side of the window panels, I went around the edges with some 10mm white vinyl tape to create the boarders (the boarder stripes were actually attached 15mm away from the edge of the acrylic as these edges would not be visible when installed). The a ran another length across the centre of the window. Then two equally spaced lengths were stuck to the panel to complete the 6 equally sized rectangle panels. These vinyl stripes are made primarily for car customising, so they are weatherproof and these would be the window outer sides.

The next job was to make some window frames from some 25mm x 50mm timber measuring 560mm square, the inside of the frame would overlap the acrylic panels by 15mm all around. The frame panels were joined together by one screw in each corner to the frames could flex to the contour of the 3mm thickness of the acrylic. To finish the frames, I painted them with the silk white used inside of the call box.

I piped some flexible sealant around the inner sides of the phone box window cutouts, then the acrylic panels put into place as straight as possible, and the window frames screwed into place. Some more sealant was applied and smoothed around the inside and outside of the window frames insuring a solid fit and water tight.

I wanted the “police public call box” signage to look as original as possible in regards to size and writing font, and also wanted the letting to be illuminated from the inside. With that said, the size of the signage sometimes varied between different police forces and call box manufactures. I went for one of the more common sizes and purchased four signs measuring 130mm x 900mm to attach to the four 3mm pre-cut Clear Acrylic 150mm x 920mm panels. To keep costs low, the signs I purchased were a black vinyl strip with white vinyl lettering stuck on top. This would mean at this stage that light would not be able to shine through the lettering because of being stuck to the black vinyl, so when I ordered the signs, I also ordered a pack of Exact o’ knife blades to cut the letting out. Apart from attaching the signs to the acrylic, a lot more work was involved to complete the signage. This is how I preceded.

I cleared and cleaned a large flat work surface area I used the work on the windows. The large clear area was needed to manoeuvre the signs while working on them. Then I removed the protective acrylic coverings.

Next was to attach the vinyl sings to the acrylic panels. I carefully started sticking the vinyl from one end leaving a 10mm gap around the acrylic edges, using the small squeegee I used to do the windows getting rid of as many air bubbles as possible.

One sign at a time, I then slowly and carefully cut around the white lettering with the Exact o’ knife, changing the blades regularly. This is where I needed the clear work space to move the sign around while cutting out the letters. This was a time consuming process with doing all four signs taking a little over 5 hours with short breaks in between signs. I used a metal ruler for most of the straight edges, and free-hand cut around the curves. Regular blade changes, a soft yet firm cut, sometimes repeated light cuts and patience will make for a clean and neat job.

When the cutting was complete, I over cut four pieces of the white opaque window film, sprayed some soapy water onto the reverse side of the acrylic signs and the film, and attached the film to the panels with the squeegee and a cloth getting rid of any bubbles. Then I finished by cutting off the excess film around the signs. The white opaque film will make the writing clearly visible during the day, yet illuminate nicely when the inside light shines through the letters making them nice and visible at night.

I piped some sealant around the edge of the signs, then inserted them into the sing housings. I then glued and screwed in some 10mm x 25mm wood strips along the top and bottoms of each housing behind the signs for extra support strength from strong winds blowing against the signs.

TOP TIPS: Exact o’ knife blades are very sharp, so cover or retract the blades when not using the knife, even for a short time. Another thing to note, these blades are a disposable item and relatively inexpensive. With this in mind, when I cut the letters out, I used two to three blades per sign to make the cuts as neat as possible and to cut down on mistakes. When you notice the blade friction starting to drag or the cutting starting to jump or pull material, stop cutting and change the blade.

With the call box shed almost complete, there were a few wore jobs left to do.

Electrics: I drilled a hole to a slightly larger diameter size to an electrical extension lead cable I was going to use, just above the base through the left hand lower side panel wall. I removed the extension lead plug, fed it through the hole, screwed the extension sockets to the back wall just under the shelf, tidied up the cable with some wire management clips, re-attached the plug and plugged it into my decking socket, then finally added a blob of clear silicon sealant to the drilled hole to waterproof it.

Lights: I converted an old solar light to run off a mains adapter, similar to what I did with the lantern, by taking apart the light, removing the rechargeable battery and connecting/insulating some electrical wire directly to the LED light panel, then re-assembled the light. I screwed the light to the inside of the roof, joined the light cable to the lantern cable, then joined them to the power adapter cable. I neatly traced the wires, set the correct voltage on the variable voltage power adapter and plugged the lights adapter into a Wi-Fi smart plug then into the extension lead socket. Finally using the smart plug app, I set a timer to switch the lights on at sunset and turn off at midnight.

Just for a bit of fun, I also purchased a cheap and cheerful mains powered mini disco light ball that slowly rotates with a choice of lighting pattens which looks pretty cool at night and mainly used during festive holidays and special occasions. I simply connected this to another smart plug socket like the main lights.

SIDE NOTE: I just wanted to mention that I was pleased I painted the inside of the call box silk white because I was very pleased with the end result when I first saw it lit up at night for the first time. The signs were clear and visible, and the windows gave a nice “active” look making for a nice garden light feature. One thing I may do it to add some 10mm black vinyl adhesive striping on the inside of the window panelling effect simply because when the call box is light at night, the white outside panelling looks a bit washed out as the light shines through that a bit too. So adding the inside black stripes should help visually define the panelling much better.

Tool Hooks: I used seven spring loaded garden tool hooks on the right hand side wall panel batten (that seals the lower and upper wall panel joins), evenly spaced to store my garden rakes, spades, brooms etc.

Door Locks: Instead of installing a Yale type key lock much like what the original call boxes used, I opted for a simple lockable latch fitted to the outside of the doors. And just to help identify what key belonged to the lock, I attached on key to a tiny little call box “TARDIS” key ring just for the fun of it. I also installed upper and lower latches to the inside of the left door so this door would stay closed when I only needed access through one door.

Door Handles: Throughout my research, I never figured out exactly what style door handles were used on the original call boxes, but evidently as different boxes varied a little in style aspects, it’s feasible to say that the door handles may had been different too. So I found a pair of chrome plated door handles that had an early 20^th century look, and fitted one handle to the outside and the other to the inside of the right hand door.

Door Signs: I originally looked at making my own, but decided to treat myself and purchased the two door signs as they were inexpensive, the correct sizes and looked just like the original signage used from what I’ve seen in historic photos. The larger ”Police Telephone” sign was metal, so I drilled some small holes in each corner and screwed it onto the left door. With the round “St Johns Ambulance” sign which had adhesive tape applied to the back, I cut a same size circle out of some PVC sheet, screwed it onto the right door, then attached the sign… which marked the end of the actual Early 20^th Century British Police Public Call Box Garden Tool Shed build.

This really was a fun yet practical build that was relativity simple… once I managed to dial in on the measurements for the original Trent police boxes which wasn’t exactly an easy task, simply because a lot of the dimensions I found related to TARDIS replica builds, and as I mentioned, differed a bit due to the TV show’s filming requirements. And it was no different for the original call box dimensions where as I’ve previously mentioned, also differed slightly depending on when and where the call boxes were built around the U.K. But I settled on measurements that not only looked right to me, but also served me practically for my storage needs.

After three months since building it, we have had some strong winds and some heavy rain fall, and I'm happy to say that it is still rock solid, windows and signs stayed in place firmly, and apart from a couple of small water leaks which I have since addressed, it remains water tight. I also added a small ramp made from some left over 18mm plywood to make easier access for my mobility scooter and lawn mower.

When I originally planned to build my call box shed, I wanted it to have a weathered look so it looked like it had already been standing for a few years and after the three months from completing the build, it does have the look I was going for. But that said, the reclaimed ply I used for the roof weathered a bit too much so I plan to add some thin treated wood to make some painted profiling strips and attach them all around the top edges of the roof to stop the ply from delaminating any more. This won't detract from the overall look and I will leave some small gaps at the front corners to let rain water drain away.

If you have the space and the opportunity to build one of your own police call box (or TARDIS), then I say, go for it and either use it as a shed, a mini bar, garden house or even a mini office. It really was a fun build and enjoy looking at it every time I see it, not just because of fond memories of watching Doctor Who when I was a kid, but also because of the history behind these call boxes and I really do like the look, colour, style and the state of the art technology used in these call boxes at the time. Many thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the content and find it useful, and I would love to hear your thoughts, tips questions or any comments you may have.

Happy making.