Former Chief Architect Bynoe dies

FORMER Chief Architect of Trinidad and Tobago and holder of the Humming Bird Gold medal for his service in the field of Architecture, Peter Bynoe, died yesterday morning at his Maraval home from cancer. Bynoe, 85, had been ailing for some time. He fell ill in May while serving as a Commissioner in the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco Airport Development Project. Bynoe attended St Mary’s College where he played first-class cricket and football and won the Victor Ludorum for Athletics on two consecutive occasions. He was also a boxing champion. He qualified as an Architect at the Architectural department of the Brixton School of Building in London with associate membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He pursued courses in Town Planning at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and the University of Bangor, North Wales. From 1945-1965, he was a research fellow/lecturer, at the School of Planning and Architecture, University of New Delhi, India.

Bynoe worked as an architectural assistant at Lewisham Borough Council, London from 1952-1953. He worked for several years at the Ministry of Works and was the Chief Architect from 1962-1968. As a member of the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1942-1946, Bynoe served in World War II and was also the RAF’s Liaison Officer in 1946 and Secretary of the RAF Association in Trinidad in 1959. In 1947, he married Dame Hilda Louisa Bynoe, nee Gibbs, who was the Governor of Grenada. They would have celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary next month. They had two sons. The prominent architect was President of the Society of TT Architects, President of the Association of the Commonwealth Societies of Architects in the Caribbean, Chairman of the Land Development Control Authority and President of the Grenada Red Cross. He was patron of the Grenada Football Association, Grenada Athletic and Cycling Association and the Grenada Ex-Servicemen’s League.

Bynoe had intentions of studying dentistry but his love for architect took him on that path. He, together with another prominent Guyanese architect, were responsible for the restoration and renovation of the Georgetown Hospital in Guyana and designed the Dretchi building and the Hugh Wooding Law school here in Trinidad. He also did designs for a number of governments, including a Parliament building and Halls of Justice for the government of Cayman Islands; a cultural complex for St Lucia; design for a Caricom Secretariat headquarters building for the Guyana government and design for an administrative commercial office for the St Vincent Electricity Corporation. He served as a Director on many boards, which included Chairman of the Development and Planning Committee, Grenada; Director of the Inter-American Rural Housing Association and the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority.
Funeral arrangements are being finalised.