My father, Alf Perry, who has died aged 64, following a cardiac arrest, was a respected structural engineer. His career encompassed the growth of Hong Kong’s skyline, the preservation of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the revitalisation of Bristol Harbourside.
The son of Douglas Perry, a railwayman, and his wife, Joan (nee Marwood), Alf was raised in Totnes, Devon. An aptitude for maths, along with a British Rail scholarship, took him to Imperial College London, where he studied civil engineering for four years. He subsequently took a position at British Rail, reconstructing bridges. After two years he left to join Ove Arup, the eminent firm of civil engineers, where he remained until his retirement in 2009.
Alf started at Arup’s London office, but his abilities were spotted and he was soon sent out to Hong Kong. There he flourished, working on jobs that included the design of the Hopewell Centre, which upon its completion was the tallest building in south-east Asia. In Hong Kong he met Nancy Copplestone, his future wife, and discovered sailing, a shared enthusiasm of theirs. Following his return to the UK, Alf had a brief spell in London before settling down in Bristol with Nancy.
Admired for his brilliant engineering mind, Alf was regarded as a professional who, among other things, could be relied on to bring a steady hand to projects that had gone awry. He enjoyed a varied career, and was involved with projects including Cribbs Causeway shopping centre in Bristol, Opel car factories in Poland and Thailand, and the redesign of Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. Alongside his commercial work, Alf pursued a keen interest in 19th-century engineering, serving as a valued trustee of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Although he was a reticent man, Alf had what might be called a talent for marketing or, more prosaically, an ability to get on with people and a knack for getting them to part with their money.
In Bristol, particularly, he built a network of engineers, property developers and politicians that he put to use in bringing funds to projects connected with Bristol’s Harbourside. This included helping to find new shareholders for the Bristol Ferryboat Company following its liquidation, and successfully soliciting donations for the construction of the Cornish pilot gigs Isambard and Young Bristol.
Alf’s intellect was matched by a predisposition to understand the situation of those around him. He was a loving and supportive father, dependably calm, and gentle.
He is survived by Nancy, his sister, Pat, and his children, Solomon, Grace and me.
