Rice, Peter (1935-1992)

Northern Irish structural engineer. He was responsible for erecting some of the most exciting buildings of the 1970s and 1980s: the Sydney Opera House, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and the Lloyd's building in London.

Born in Ulster, Rice studied engineering at Queen's University, Belfast, and Imperial College, London. His first employment was with Ove Arup; he was assigned to raise the sail-like roofs of the Sydney Opera House, designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon. There followed the Centre Pompidou by the architects Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano; the Menil Art Collection Museum in Houston, Texas; the San Nicola World Cup Stadium in Bari, Italy; the Kansai International Airport in Japan; and the Pavilion of the Future at the Seville Expo, Spain. In Britain, he built the terminal at Stansted Airport, designed by Norman Foster, as well as the Lloyd's building, also by Richard Rogers.