Grant Featherston

Grant Featherston (1922-1995) was born in Geelong Victoria. Self-taught, he designed lighting and glass panels before serving in the army from 1940-1944. Returning to Melbourne he produced the first of his famous plywood shell Contour chairs in 1951.

Featherston Contract Interiors furniture showroom opened in 1956, and in 1957 he became a consultant to Aristoc Industries for 13 years. His design partnership with his wife Mary was formed in 1966 and they worked on major projects in the ensuing years, including the Expo 67 Talking Chair and the Numero range for Uniroyal.

Grant was a foundation member of the Society of Designers for Industry, the forerunner to the Design Institute of Australia.

Mary Featherston (nee Curry) was born in Shirley, Surrey England and arrived in Australia in 1953. She trained in Interior Design at RMIT and worked as a designer for Mockridge, Stahle and Mitchell Architects in the mid sixties, until she formed her lifetime partnership with Grant.

Major projects included the furnishing of the National Gallery of Victoria, the Children’s Museum of Victoria and Research into Play/Learning Environments for children.