Auburn University at Montgomery

Named after the P-40 Warhawk (in honor of AUM’s Warhawk mascot), Auburn University at Montgomery’s fourth residence hall was built in response to a growing demand for housing in the middle of the university’s downtown Montgomery campus.

The building is styled after an airplane hangar made of brick, glass, and metal, with exposed beams and wide-open hallways. It offers fully furnished “two-passenger” and “four-passenger” suites, as well as community areas, study rooms, and lounge and dining spaces — and as residence halls so frequently are, it was built on a tight timeline. HPM was able to push an aggressive schedule, compressing the design phase, getting the project bid on time and managing construction and utility work in the middle of campus as students went about their academic activities, to deliver a roomy and attractive residence hall to AUM.

CONSTRUCTING A RESIDENCE HALL AND BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP
While Auburn had relied on HPM for a number of on-campus projects, P-40 Place was our first project with AUM — and administrators who had no relationship with HPM, little construction experience and an unfavorable experience with construction managers in the past. While HPM was laying the foundation for a residence hall, we also had to lay the foundation for a working relationship. It started by installing a project manager on campus, alongside AUM’s chief services officer, supporting him through the process and keeping him informed every step of the way so he could trust the work that HPM was doing on his behalf. When the time came in the construction process for the project manager to give way to a field coordinator, the three worked together for a smooth transition, so the relationship held. By the time the new residence hall was open for business, AUM also had a new friend and ally in the program management business for future building projects on campus.