Harry S. Truman State Office Building. Photo courtesy BNIM

MSU Blunt Hall Renovation and Addition. Photo courtesy BNIM

Notably, BNIM worked closely with Steven Holl Architects on the Bloch Building at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which was completed to significant fanfare in 2007. The firm also helmed the 2017 renovation of the Bloch Building’s galleries, with Renfro Design Group, and is serving as architect of record on a new $170 million expansion of the venerable museum alongside design architect Weiss/Manfredi, who was selected for the high-profile commission in April 2025. BNIM has collaborated with Holl’s firm on other projects outside of Kansas City, including the Lewis Arts Complex at Princeton University and The Reach at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. More recent BNIM projects that have been published by RECORD include the expansion of Congregation Beth Shalom, with Preston Scott Cohen, in Overland Park, Kansas.

The firm, known for often taken on high-performance projects with complex building geometries, was awarded the 2011 National Firm Award by the American Institute of Architects.

One Kansas City Place. Photo courtesy BNIM

Of the firm’s namesake leaders, Bob Berkebile and Steve McDowell both survive; David Immenschuh died in 2019. Says Berkebile, principal emeritus and cofounder of BNIM, in a statement, “But for Tom, Kansas City’s skyline, urbanity, accessibility, and quality of life would be diminished. But for Tom as a mentor, I would not be who I am. Nor would BNIM have received AIA’s National Firm Award. And perhaps most importantly, this community and region would have fewer inspiring buildings, public places, and capable architects.”

Describing Nelson as a “visionary and giant,” BNIM principal McDowell adds: “Tom was an extraordinary human being who understood that his decisions and actions, as a person and as an architect, mattered and would have an impact far beyond his lifetime.”

A sketch by Nelson. Image courtesy BNIM

Photo by Bobby Pitts, courtesy BNIM

Nelson was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and studied architecture at the University of Kansas. Following his graduation, he worked at major firms in Houston, Boston, and London before returning to Kansas City to join stadium specialists Kivett & Myers as an associate and later chief of design. That firm was acquired by HNTB in 1975, five years after Nelson and Berkebile departed with two other Kivett & Meyers colleagues to establish PBNL, which became BNIM in 1991.

Nelson is survived by his wife Lorraine Gordon, four children, and several grandchildren.