Saskatchewan Legislative Building([1907-12])
Regina, SK, Canada
Government, Parliament building [basement, 3 floors]; brick and stone; frame

Client: Province of Saskatchewan
Architect: E. & W.S. Maxwell

Description: The Saskatchewan Legislative was the second competition won by the Maxwells and one that firmly established a classical vocabulary and Beaux-Arts planning principles for major public buildings. In 1905, when Saskatchewan attained provincehood, premier Walter Scott began planning for a new structure. The land acquired to build the new legislative building was a one-hundred-and-sixty-eight-acre site, one kilometer south of Regina’s business centre. Montreal landscape architect Frederick G. Todd was hired to lay out the grounds and his recommendation to locate the building facing north and overlooking an artificial lake was included in the conditions of the competition. In order to avoid political controversy, Scott decided to open an international competition for the legislative building. He asked Percy Nobbs, the Director of McGill’s school of Architecture, to take charge. Nobbs accepted on the condition that the competition follow the guidelines laid down by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Seven architectural firms were selected: one from the United States, Great Britain and Saskatchewan, and four from elsewhere in Canada. The Canadian competitors were Story & Van Egmond from Regina; Francis Rattenbury who designed the British Columbia Parliament; Darling & Pearson; Marchand & Haskell; and E. & W.S. Maxwell. The competition closed on November 30, 1907 and three weeks later it was announced that E. & W.S. Maxwell had won. The brothers opted for a monumental dome using a free style of English Renaissance. Following Nobbs’ suggestion that the architects use red brick and pale buff stone in the proposal this was considered, but ultimately the exterior walls were finished with cream-colored Tyndall limestone from Manitoba. The Maxwell’s cruciform plan for the building was determined by a major axis running north and south, and the longer minor axis running east and west. The intersection of this axis marked the location for a rotunda surmounted and lit by an octagonal dome, which rises 183 feet (56 m), above the ground. The principal ceremonial elements like the Legislative Chamber are contained in the north-south block. The main entrance is marked by a porticoed access which fronts the north wing and is reached by a broad flight of granite steps. It opens onto a vestibule that precedes the main entrance hall, where a great marble staircase leads to the lofty colonnaded rotunda serving as the anteroom of the Legislative Chamber. The entire main floor is used for legislative functions, with the Executive Council Chamber and the Governor’s and the Premier’s rooms at the front over the entrance hall. On the east-west wings which, are accessed by a corridor, the architects laid out the reading, writing committee rooms and members’ offices. The basement contains dining facilities and the remainder of the three-storey floors is devoted to the different governmental departments. The structure of the building was innovative, with outer walls helped to carry floor loads. The Legislative Chamber’s structure was built with steel and fireproofed with concrete. The remaining structure was reinforced using the new Khan system which consists of trussed steel bars. When the building was finished, it became the largest reinforced concrete building in the Canadian West. The image of the distinctive central rotunda was marked with monumental solid green marble columns brought from Cyprus. The floors were finished with marble that came from Vermont and the walls were covered with Italian marble. The Bromsgrove Guild & Waring of England and Castle & Son of Montreal provided the principal facilities and spaces with furnishings of the best quality of the time. The Saskatchewan Legislative Building is one of the finest buildings in Canada. It established a landmark for Canadian architects in an era when the most prestigious commissions went to non-Canadians.

Holdings: Parliament building (basement, 3 floors); brick and stone; frame
355 Drawings: 275 ink on linen; 7 ink on paper; 61 pencil on paper; 11 blueprints; 1 pencil on photo reproduction
1 Presentation drawing: perspective
9 Development drawings: floor plans, wall section, executive council chamber, engine room, archway, windows, console, iron grill
15 Working drawings: block plans, grade plan, foundation plan, floor plans, roof plan, elevations, section, power house, drainage
328 Detail drawings: foundations, floor plans, ceiling plans, elevations, sections, wall sections, power house, executive council chamber, legislative chamber, provincial governor's office, member's office, assembly room, conservatory, governor's office, premier's parlour, speaker's room, dining rooms, smoking rooms, writing rooms, coffee rooms, retiring room, lunch room, rotunda, halls, vestibule, kitchen, kitchen fuel cellar, coal cellar, engine room, washrooms, pavilions, entries, structure, columns and plasterwork, electrical and schedules, mechanical, drainage, flue chases, vent ducts, stairs, ramp, fireplaces, mantelpieces, chimneys, windows, bays, skylights, doors, dome, galleries, tunnel, furniture, water tank, railings, balustrades, elevator shafts, vaults, fittings, lanterns, fixtures, wainscotting, rugs, wood flooring, mosaic floor, finishes, woodwork, stonework, ironwork, copperwork, marblework, balconies, pediments, terraces, driveways, sidewalks, lamps, entry gates, flag pole, trolley posts, ornamentation
2 Consultant drawings: tunnel, setting for boilers
32 Photographs: 3 elevations; 3 plans; 1 section; 1 perspective; 9 construction; 7 finished exteriors; 6 finished interiors; 3 finished details
1 File folder: correspondence; clippings
Comment: 1 construction drawing by James Ballantyne Company Ltd., dated 19/4/11, is included.

Comments: 1 construction drawing by James Ballantyne Company Ltd., dated 19/4/11, is included.