Fact Sheet

BNIM Architects is a multidisciplinary architecture and design firm founded in 1970 in Kansas City, Missouri. Throughout its history, the firm has remained committed to its local and regional communities while establishing a national presence as an innovator of design methodologies, sustainability and new technologies in architecture, planning and workplace design.

BNIM’s mission is to improve the quality of life for the owner, user and surrounding community through a balance of social, economic and environmental concerns. Without exception, the foundation of BNIM’s continued growth and success has been the individuals—client and designer—who share a common vision and who find purpose in helping to create works of extraordinary quality and utility.

Through a process of integrated design, which is both an organized collaboration between disciplines and an interweaving and interconnectivity of building systems, BNIM creates designs that are both environmentally responsible and that achieve the highest level of design excellence. This philosophy, Deep Design/Deep Green, is embraced by all members of the firm.

As pioneers in the sustainable movement, BNIM and its associates have become known as thought leaders in the industry and beyond. BNIM’s passion for sustainability has emerged on the national scene over the past two decades through early involvement in the U.S. Green Building Council and other national committees and demonstration projects. Their work helped define the national American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment, the USGBC’s the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System and the Living Building concept.

BNIM’s work has evolved to embody the concept of restorative design, which aims to maximize human potential, productivity and health while increasing the vitality of natural systems. They design buildings and spaces that have a benign or healing impact on the site while being environmentally responsible, experientially rewarding and deeply educational for those who interact with them. Their projects demonstrate a belief that buildings and communities are and should be seamlessly integrated with the natural world. This results in structures that respond to and interact with their environment as living systems, celebrating light, water, landscape and natural materials.

Through research and investigation, the use of cutting-edge technology and the execution of solution-driven design, BNIM Architects has gained a reputation for design excellence. BNIM’s projects, which include building and workplace design, urban planning and community redevelopment, have won numerous design awards from the AIA and other respected organizations. Included among them are national AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects Awards and recognition from the General Services Administration, the American Planning Association, and the International Interior Design Association, to name a few.