Following a long illness Peter Campbell passed away on 1 May 2021.
A founding partner of Campbell Reith & Partners, the firm which has grown into ACE member CampbellReith today, Peter was recognised as an inspirational engineer, and in 1991/2 was chair of ACE, or the Association of Consulting Engineers, as it was known at the time. He was also instrumental in establishing RedR UK, a charity dedicated to using engineering expertise to boost humanitarian disaster relief capacity.
Current ACE chief executive Hannah Vickers said: “It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Peter Campbell. His career and achievements will be inspirational to many and through his vital work with ACE, ISE, and RedRUK, he had a huge impact on the industry. Our thoughts are with his family, as well as with those who knew him at CampbellReith.”
Peter’s career began with Ove Arup & Partners in 1951 (now Arup) and in 1960, he formed Campbell Reith & Partners together with Ian Reith. An active senior partner until his retirement in 1992, Peter achieved many accolades both internationally and here in the UK during his working life.
Peter had strong professional links to the island of Mauritius. In the mid-1960s he was responsible for delivering a new council chamber which had to be completed by 1968 in time for their Independence celebrations. This achievement was followed by a new 546 bed district general hospital and a new Government Centre in the late 1960’s. In the early 1970s Peter secured a commission from the World Bank for the design of 22, 1,000 pupil comprehensive schools in Trinidad, as well as the Teacher Training College on the island of Tobago.
Closer to home, Peter was closely involved with the major refurbishment of the Japanese Embassy on London’s Piccadilly in the early 1980s and with the redevelopment of The Oval’s west stand in the mid-80s. Ahead of his time, in 1981, Peter invented an innovative new cladding system and established the museum of concrete at the Chalk Pits Museum in Amberley, West Sussex.
As a true scholar and thought leader for our industry, he taught the theory of structures at Regent Street Polytechnic in London from 1962-1968. Peter also had close association with the Institution of Structural Engineers throughout his working life and held various board positions, including President from 1988-1989.
