Cast Iron Ranges How AGA Became an Icon

Douglas Scott (1913–1990) – an industrial
designer and educator – was employed at
the London office of Raymond Loewy
Associates between 1936 and 1939, where
his work was overseen by American designer
Carl Otto. Together they worked on the AGA
Heat and Allied Ironfounders accounts.
Scott was particularly proud of his 1938 redesign of the AGA cooker and his
development of the Rayburn. It was a design that was to endure for the next
40 years. Scott’s influence during this period led to the development of greater
standardisation of the AGA cooker, a theme which ran through all of Loewy’s
work and which was later echoed in Scott’s design of London’s iconic and
much-loved Routemaster bus, which was
engineered to be mass-produced in a
sustainable way. The eventual Standard
Model C AGA cooker, illustrated on the
cover of Homes & Gardens magazine in
1940 (right) went even further than before
in its simplification and definition of the
cooker’s design. The AGA was also
proving robust in operation. The Antarctic
expedition team of 1934 took an AGA
cooker with them – a model SBD. All
existing models – both domestic and
heavy duty – were withdrawn in 1941
and in their place a range of units were
introduced with standardised parts
which were, to a much greater extent,
fully interchangeable. Scott’s vision of
uniformity had been achieved.
DOUGLAS SCOTT
Charles Ludovic Scott
was the Technical
research Officer for
AGA Heat Ltd from
1929 until the late
1950s. With the task
of styling the AGA
cooker having been
assigned to renowned industrial designers, it was
Scott’s role to ensure the engineering of the cooker
received similar close attention. During the 1930s
more than 20 patents were filed for technical and
design innovations related to the AGA cooker and other products,
mainly by Scott, under the changing company names of Bell’s Engineering,
Bell’s Heat Appliances, AGA Heat and Allied Ironfounders. Scott is often
featured in brochures of the time advocating research and development and
explaining why they make the AGA cooker a market leader. Board minutes
highlight this determined work to ensure quality and reliability.
CHARLES
LUDOVIC SCOTT
How e AGA Became An Icon 23
Vintage advertising campaigns for the
AGA cooker (left and opposite page)
illustrate how – now as then – the
emphasis has always been on the
AGA cooker’s economy, design,
engineering and reliability.
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