Upon entering Graduate Auburn, AL by Hilton, hotel guests are greeted by bright spaces, opulent furnishings, and custom finishes. Each element comes together to create a sophisticated homage to the city of Auburn, Alabama, and its storied university.
Only steps from Auburn University’s campus, Graduate Auburn, AL stands six stories and spans more than 140,000 square feet, offering 177 guest rooms and ground-level parking. On the first floor, a university-football-themed lobby enveloped in complementary shades of orange and blue gives way to the onsite coffee shop, Bo’s Beans, anchored by a classic bar and a life-size, solid wood Bo Jackson statue. The hotel also boasts a spacious ballroom and meeting space.
A step onto the elevator whisks guests to a rooftop restaurant and bar with views of Jordan-Hare Stadium and the historic Toomer’s Corner. Its name, the War Eagle Supper Club, is a nod to a past music venue that alumni fondly remember from their time in town. After an evening meal or a nightcap, guests can retire to their rooms, featuring designs inspired by history, culture, and a passionate fandom that has existed for nearly 200 years.
Graduate Auburn, AL isn’t just a hotel, it’s an immersive experience — and that’s the vision that general contractor, Robins & Morton, brought to life.
From the onset, the team knew that constructing the hotel would be no easy feat. The site was immediately across Magnolia Avenue from the bustling university campus and was surrounded on three sides by other downtown businesses. To begin construction as quickly as possible, Robins & Morton generated several early release packages to relocate utilities while the architect, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, continued work on the design. This effort set the project up for success when structural activities began.
There was no room for material storage, staging, or even an office for the more than 30 trade contractors onsite, but the Robins & Morton team was prepared for a challenging build. Immediately, they flexed their creativity, setting a logistics plan in motion.
“We used as many local trades as possible, and an added benefit of that was their ability to stage [material] offsite at their local warehouses,” Robins & Morton Superintendent Wayne Baughn said. “Through daily meetings, we coordinated just-in-time deliveries and made sure everybody had a plan for when their material would be delivered.”
Using a prefabricated structural system also expedited construction by quickly setting load-bearing, metal-stud walls, and allowing interior buildout to begin sooner.
When the team felt they’d hit their stride, the next challenge emerged. With the late fall completion date looming, the team wanted to speed up work to open in time for the Auburn Tigers’ five-week string of home football games. With only four months left in construction, finding a path to further reduce the remaining construction time would be an incredible feat. The answer?
“We told [the client] we couldn’t get it done by the first home game,” Baughn said. “But we’d find a way to get it done for them by the second.”
With the support of the project’s trade contractors, the project team committed to making the deadline.
The entire project site was energized, buzzing with activity 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Tasks were divided into multiple shifts, and frequent collaboration with AJ Capital Partners, Cumming Group, and the City of Auburn ensured that everyone reached a consensus on how to phase the hotel’s opening. With, quite literally, one minute remaining, Graduate Auburn opened at 4:59 p.m. on Sept. 6. Since then, the pulse of events and visitors has been nonstop. Only a few weeks after its opening, the hotel welcomed Good Morning America for a broadcast before the next day’s home game against the University of Oklahoma.
“Having prior experience with specialty hospitality properties like Graduate Auburn, AL helped us tremendously,” Baughn said. “From budgeting and scheduling to ensuring we were pushing the decisions that mattered most, the knowledge we’ve gained helped us help the owner in meeting their goal.”
