BNIM at Greenbuild 2015: Blue is the New Green

Steve McDowell, Director of Design for BNIM, will speak about the growing complexity of water issues for architects, planners, and engineers. The panel of distinguished presenters will explore water infrastructure through case studies of current projects and policy. McDowell will use several BNIM projects to discuss the significance of water in reshaping how we think about design: the Omega Center for Sustainable Living in Rhinebeck, NY; Odum School of Ecology in Athens, GA; and BNIM's proposed headquarters in Kansas City, 1640 Baltimore. Water is the next currency and "blue" will replace "green" in our future discussions about sustainability.

Water Services Department Grand Opening

The City of Kansas City Missouri Water Services Department will have a grand opening on Tuesday October 6, at 5:30 PM for the Swope Campus Sustainable Stormwater Improvements Project. The project includes real life examples of stormwater runoff reduction and water quality education. The grand opening celebration will feature demonstrations of the project's features throughout the site, as well as a ceremonial planting to mark the project completion.

BNIM at SxSW Eco

Urban Planner Josh Boehm will make a  presentation at SxSW Eco on October 6. He will illustrate some of the emerging innovations of Kansas City’s Smart + Connected City initiative. Kansas City’s Smart City infrastructure will accompany the City’s nearly complete 2.2-mile downtown streetcar route, and will be the largest network in North America. While built by a public-private partnership between the City, Cisco, and Sprint, the Smart City project is built on a foundation of openness, with opportunities for other collaborators to find entrepreneurial uses of Smart City data. More about the presentation.

 

K-State Breaks Ground on Seaton Hall

Kansas State University will break ground Friday, Sept. 4, on a $75 million revitalization and expansion of Seaton Hall. BNIM is designing the project with Ennead Architects. The 100-year-old building is home to the College of Architecture, Planning & Design, or APDesign. The public is invited to attend the ceremony at 11 a.m. on the east side of Seaton Hall. The project will be funded by $60 million in state bonds, $15 million in private gifts and student fees. The 194,000-square-foot project will be done by the start of fall classes in 2017. 

BNIM at SCUP

Steve McDowell is presenting at Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)'s 50th Annual Conference in Chicago. His session, titled "Reimagining the Research Library " features the Price Gilbert - Crosland Tower Renewal at Georgia Institute of Technology.  The transformation of the library is founded on changes in the way that students and faculty currently use the library, as well as trends in library utilization across the United States.

Patient-Centered Care Learning Center Breaks Ground

The Patient-Centered Care Learning Center and School of Medicine Expansion broke ground on July 9, 2015. Several health systems have partnered with the University to expand the MU medical student class size. The public-private partnership will bring transformational change by ultimately providing more than 300 additional physicians for the state, adding more than $390 million annually to Missouri’s economy and creating 3,500 new jobs. 

Thunder Valley Groundbreaking

BNIM has worked with Thunder Valley CDC on a Regenerative Community Plan to create a sustainable and interconnected community. The groundbreaking on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to signifies the change that is about to take place:  to eliminate poverty through better housing, places for businesses to thrive, and provide a supportive environment for youth, elderly and families. Each of the 300 attendees lifted a shovel of earth in celebration of the community’s future.  

Design in the Middle: Marking Place in the American Small Town

On Friday, April 10, 2015, Steve McDowell will present Greensburg City Hall at the Design in the Middle Symposium at Drury University, Hammons School of Architecture Auditorium. The symposium, held from 1:00 - 5:00 PM, will focus on projects in small towns and rural landscapes that are removed from centers of culture, where creative and critical architecture challenges the widely held view that design serves merely as aesthetic gloss or budgetary luxury. The symposium will serve as a culminating and synthesizing event for the Hammons School of Architecture’s lecture series, which will focus this year on the theme "Locating Design." 

Healthy KC Taking Strides

BNIM Principal and Director of Design, Steve McDowell, has been selected as Healthy KC's Special Commissioner of Active Living. Healthy KC, an initiative announced by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, aims to create a culture of healthy living and wellness for the region.

Design Week at BNIM

Have you ever wanted to see the inside of one of those cool ad agencies? How about checking out some amazing architecture firms? 

This Friday, BNIM and Kansas City Design Week are thrilled to invite you to Open Studio Night, hosted in the KC Crossroads district. BNIM is among 25+ design studios, architecture firms, and local spaces will open their doors from 5–8 pm, and invite the public in for a one-of-a-kind studio crawl. 

 

KC Engineering Zone Opens

KC STEM Alliance & BNIM collaborated on the new KC Engineering Zone (KC EZ) which will operate as STEM resource center for Kansas City and the region. The facility is opening on Thursday on the UMKC Campus, but will be a resource for local high schoolers. The co-location on the UMKC Campus ensures the high schoolers have access to ample mentorship, as well as the potential for early college credits. The spaces is filled with computers as well as milling machines and other resources for building other robotics and technology that support the science, technology and engineering mission of the space.

 

 

BNIM Announces Move to TWA Building

Kansas City, Mo. (September 2, 2014) — BNIM, a Kansas City-based national architecture and planning firm, has announced its relocation to the Crossroads district’s TWA Building after 14 years in the historic Power and Light Building. The move renews the firm’s 44-year commitment to the urban core as a vibrant creative, business and residential center. The firm sought to find a workplace that would act as a laboratory for testing principles related to Human Purposed High Performance Integrated Design (HP2ID) and the design of resilient workplaces. The 26,000 square foot third floor office provides an atmosphere that aligns with the multi-disciplinary, collaborative culture of the organization. 

Chamber Small Business Celebration

BNIM was a 2014 Top Ten Small Business in the Annual Small Business of the Year Award. The 28th Annual Small Business Celebration celebrates the small business community within the Kansas City region by recognizing companies that have shown growth of their business with strong employee relations and a record of giving back to the community.