Motherwell Building

The Motherwell Building is a Municipal Heritage Property in the City of Regina. Located prominently at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Rose Street in Regina’s downtown core, this stone-faced, multi-storey office building was constructed between 1954-56. The building’s Municipal Heritage Property designation applies only to the façade.

The heritage value of the Motherwell Building lies in its architecture. The building was the last project commissioned to the prominent Regina architectural firm of Storey and Van Egmond. Built between 1954-56, its design reflects the influence of the International style and emphasizes modernity and technology, which distinguished it from other buildings in Regina at that time. The rectilinear geometry of the International style façade was constructed with traditional materials of Tyndall Stone and black granite.

Further heritage value is derived from the Motherwell Building’s association with the Federal government, the agricultural industry and W. R. Motherwell. The building was originally constructed as an office building for the Federal government. At the time of opening, the major tenants of the building included the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) and Western Canadian Engineering Projects, both of which played very significant roles in the development of Saskatchewan’s agricultural industry. The association with agriculture was further enhanced by naming the building after William R. Motherwell, a pioneer farmer in Saskatchewan, one of the founders of the Western Canadian agricultural movement, a major Saskatchewan Liberal political leader and a Federal Minister of Agriculture. Naming Saskatchewan’s largest and most modern building after Motherwell emphasized the political and historical links between the Liberal Federal government and the agricultural industry as well as the province’s pioneer traditions.

Source: City of Regina Bylaw 2003-101.

The heritage value of the Motherwell Building resides in the following character-defining elements:

-those elements that reflect the influence of the International style, including the clear articulation of a grid frame, limited ornamentation or decoration on the façade other than fluted spandrels, the uniform surface that creates a sense of rectangular volume, flat roof, black granite cladding that surrounds the first floor and flush window openings that extend from floor to ceiling of each storey;

-those elements that reflect the association with the Federal government, the agriculture industry and W. R. Motherwell, such as the dedication plaque on the exterior of the building and the location of the building on its original site.