Tammen Hall
Denver County
Completed in 1932, Tammen Hall was built specifically for the training and housing of women nurses by Children’s Hospital, Denver’s first and only hospital specializing in children’s care. The training program, which continued until 1956, reflected the growth and social acceptance of nursing as a legitimate profession for women in the twentieth century.
Tammen Hall
The building is also an important example of the work of Merrill and Burnham Hoyt and their movement away from historical revival styles toward Modernism. The building is predominantly Art Deco in style, angular in form with a vertical emphasis, polychromatic materials, and decorative details with zigzag and low-relief geometric designs. Transitional details related to the Romanesque Revival included corbelled arches at the top cornice, the use of gargoyles and red roof tile, and the tall vertical Roman arches that define the main entrance.
Tammen Hall is further notable its three murals by Colorado native Allen Tupper True, an acknowledged master of architectural mural painting, whose works are featured in a number of historic buildings in Denver and the capitols of several states including Wyoming and Missouri.