BNIM Architects Wins 2011 AIA Architecture Firm Award

by Sheila Kim | Friday, January 28, 2011

The Freight House Pedestrian Bridge in Kansas City, MO serves as a pedestrian link spanning the railroad artery that separates the Freight House Arts district from popular civic destinations.

It’s the highest honor awarded by the American Institute of Architects, and it’s going to Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell Architects. The AIA has selected BNIM Architects to receive the 2011 AIA Architecture Firm Award, which is presented annually to a practice that consistently produces distinguished work for at least 10 years. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, BNIM Architects has been a crucial voice in defining and developing the art and science of sustainable architecture.

With offices also in Des Moines, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Diego, the firm has garnered other distinctions such as two AIA National Honor Awards, 20 state and local AIA awards in the last few years alone, and numerous COTE Top Ten Green Awards. In 2010, BNIM Architects completed the Omega Center for Sustainable Living in Rhinebeck, New York, making the firm one of two to complete a building that meets the strictest green building certification system. Other notable projects include the Freight House Pedestrian Bridge in Kansas City and the LEED Platinum Lewis and Clark State Office Building in Jefferson City, Missouri.

The AIA will officially present the award to the BNIM Architects at the 2011 AIA National Convention, taking place in New Orleans this May.