Health Sciences Building

The School of Medical Sciences, established in 1926, grew out of the small Department of Bacteriology founded in 1919 under the aegis of the College of Arts and Science. Between 1926 and 1956, students at the University of Saskatchewan were able to take two years of basic pre-medical classes prior to enrolling at a medical school for the final two years of instruction. The School became a College in 1952. The School’s first home was in the Header Houses. Four years later they moved into College Building where they remained until 1937. For the next twelve years they called the addition to the Field Husbandry Building home. The final move came in 1949 with the completion of the Medical College.

Designed by Webster & Gilbert and constructed for $950,000 plus $250,000 for equipment, the Medical College Building was the first of the buildings that would make up the University’s Medical Complex. The Hospital and College were to be integrated academically and structurally; both clad in greystone with direct corridor connections between them. The Medical College echoed the E-shaped design of the College Building, though efforts were made to maximize useful floor space by lowering the ceilings, using full sized windows in the basement and converting the attic into laboratories. The Health Science or B-wing addition was completed in 1971. Designed by Moody and Moore at a cost of $8.8 million, the seven-storey structure contained two and a half times the space of the original building providing improved space for the Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry, and the School of Nursing. Similarly to the new library wing, this building was cast in Tyndal stone made to look like exposed concrete.