BNIM (Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell, Inc.) is an architecture and design firm founded in 1970 in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. BNIM’s notable sustainable projects include the

Iowa Utilities Board The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) is a 3-member public utilities commission, with beginnings in 1878. It is a quasi-judicial tribunal, which regulates services and rates of electric, natural gas, water and telecommunication providers in the U.S. state ...

– Office of Consumer Advocate Office Building in

Des Moines, IA Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, the Omega Center for Sustainable Living at the

Omega Institute for Holistic Studies Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is a non-profit educational retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Founded in 1977 by Elizabeth Lesser and Stephan Rechtschaffen, inspired by Sufi mystic, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and his ecu ...

in Rhinebeck, New York (Living Building and LEED Platinum), the School of Nursing and Student Community Center at

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is a public academic health science center in Houston, Texas, United States. It was created in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is located in the T ...

(LEED Gold), and the Lewis and Clark State Office Building in

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...

(LEED Platinum).

History

The firm was founded in 1970 in Kansas City, MO as Patty Berkebile Nelson Love Architects (PBNL). Dating to its early history, the firm was dedicated to strengthening the urban core with projects and the civic involvement of firm members. Two of the principals (Bob Berkebile and Tom Nelson) were members of a joint venture, PBNDML, that designed the Hyatt Regency Crown Center that was site of the 1981

Hyatt Regency walkway collapse On July 17, 1981, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, suffered the structural collapse of two overhead walkways. Loaded with partygoers, the concrete and glass platforms cascaded down, crashing onto a tea dance in the lobby, killin ...

. Architect

Edward Larrabee Barnes Edward Larrabee Barnes (April 22, 1915 – September 22, 2004) was an American architect. His work was characterized by the "fusing fModernism with vernacular architecture and understated design." Barnes was best known for his adherence to ...

was the formal master of the hotel. However, two local Kansas City firms merged to formally design the hotel, including a consortium of R. Bruce Patty, Bob Berkebile and Tom Nelson (PBN), and Duncan Monroe Lefevre (DML). Investigation of the accident determined the failure to be the fault of the structural engineer. In 1987, Patty, Berkebile and Nelson formed a new firm with David Immenschuh, known as PBNI Architects. They were to design

One Kansas City Place One Kansas City Place is the tallest building in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, bounded by 12th Street to the north, Baltimore Avenue to the west, and Main Street to the east. Built in 1988, this 18 ...

which is the tallest building in Missouri. In 1991, Berkebile, Nelson and Immenschuh were joined by Steve McDowell and became Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell (BNIM).

Description

The firm’s practice areas include

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

and community redevelopment; urban planning and design; educational facilities; campus master planning; civic, state and federal government work; residential, and corporate office spaces. The firm has offices in

;

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

; and

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

Notable Projects

Greensburg, Kansas Greensburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of the city was 740. It is home to the world's largest hand-dug well. On the evening of May 4, 2007, Greens ...

master plan following

May 2007 Tornado Outbreak May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, Ma ...

devastation *

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the T-Mobile Center and the Crossroads Arts District. Its construction was a ...

, Kansas City, MO (Executive Architect for

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie ( he, משה ספדיה; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with Israeli, Canadian, and American citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible desi ...

) *Omega Center for Sustainable Living,

, Rhinebeck, NY (The OCSL was one of the first two buildings in the world to be certified as "living" by the International Living Building Institute.) *Make It Right, New Orleans, LA *

Nelson-Atkins Museum The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...

Bloch Addition, Kansas City, MO (Architect of Record for

Steven Holl Steven Holl (born December 9, 1947) is a New York-based American architect and watercolorist. Among his most recognized works are the 2019 REACH expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 2019 Hunters Point Library in Q ...

) *The School of Nursing and Student Community Center at

, Houston, TX (with Lake, Flato) *Fayez S. Sarofim Research Building, Home of The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX *

Fort Osage Fort Osage (also known as Fort Clark or Fort Sibley) was an early 19th-century factory trading post run by the United States Government in western Missouri on the American frontier; it was located in present-day Sibley, Missouri. The Treaty of ...

Education Center, Sibley, MO * H. L. Hunley (submarine) Museum,

Charleston, SC Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of ...

(in consortium) *

Union Station (Kansas City) Kansas City Union Station (station code: KCY) is a union station opened in 1914, serving Kansas City, Missouri, and the Kansas City metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area. It replaced a small Union Depot from 1878. Union Station serve ...

– Science City Addition (in consortium with other architects) * C. K. Choi Building,

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, Vancouver, BC, Canada (consultant to Matsuzaki Wright Architects Inc.) * St. Joseph Civic Arena, St. Joseph, MO (1980) *

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

addition (Architect of Record for

) 2013 *

University of Missouri School of Music The School of Music is an Academic department, academic division of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Its focus is the study of music, awarding Bachelor's degree, baccalaureate, Master's degree, master's, and Doctorate, doctoral ...

, Sinqfied Music Center, Columbia, MO (2020)

Awards

* 2010:

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

Architecture Firm Award The Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor that The American Institute of Architects can bestow on an architecture firm for consistently producing distinguished architecture. Prior recipients of the AIA Architecture Firm Award include: *202 ...

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.bnim.com/ Architecture firms based in Missouri Companies based in Kansas City, Missouri