The project files are varied. Depending on the size of the project, there might be anywhere from one file and one
set of drawings to four hundred and fifty files and hundreds of drawings. Of particular note are records on the
Royal Bank of Canada Building, the CBC Broadcast Centre, the Dairy Producers Co-operative Ltd. Creameries in
Regina and Saskatoon, the Camrose Lutheran College Faith and Life Building, and St. Paul's Hospital in
Saskatoon. Equally of interest are the bids which Wiens made for the National Gallery of Canada and the
Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina. Although Wiens was not the successful bidder (and in fact the
Mackenzie Gallery was never built in the end), his plans were praised for their sensitivity and originality.
These are the records of a successful and yet untapped prairie architect. Most of Wiens' buildings were built in
Saskatchewan or the West. One gets the feeling that had he been a rigorous marketer of his product, and had he
left Saskatchewan for a major centre, he would have produced a great deal more major buildings. There can be
no doubt, however, that in that case, Saskatchewan would be poorer for the loss. Instead, Wiens' gems dot the
landscape in the most unexpected places; not confined to only banks and other institutions with big money to
spend, he could experiment in dozens of settings and dozens of contexts, bringing a purity of form to both chapel
and heating plant, foundry and creamery, school and library.
