Peter Rice was born in Inniskeen, County Monaghan. He graduated in Engineering at Queen's University, Belfast, and at Imperial College, London. One of his better-known projects, when he went to work for the London firm of Ove Arup, was on the Sydney Opera House, designed by Jorn Utzon; Rice’s particular contribution was calculating the correct geometrical curve for the supports of its distinctive roof. Another project was the Centre Pompidou in Paris: Rice, a specialist in lightweight construction materials, specified cast steel for that building’s distinctive exterior tubes. Also in Paris, he assisted in the design and construction at the Parc de la Villette, where the architect’s original design required extensive glass façades; Rice was able to select the optimum matériel. Other projects included the Menil Art Collection Museum in Houston; and the Kansai International Airport in Japan; the Lloyd's Building in London; the new pavilion at Stansted Airport, London; and the Pavilion of the Future at the Seville Expo. He worked on these projects with Sir Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, with the latter he designed a car whose design was based on racehorses (of which sport Rice was an aficionado). He had his own practice in Paris, and was director of Arup’s, London. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture by the Royal Society of British Architects, a rare award for a civil engineer. He was fond of poetry, philosophy, mathematics, football, racing, wildflowers, wine and whiskey. He also had a sobriquet, "The James Joyce of Engineering".

Born:	16 June 1935
Died:	25 October 1992