BNIM worked with the YMCA of Greater Kansas City to renovate and adaptively reuse the historic Lyric Theatre in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, as the Kirk Family YMCA. Because of urban revitalization efforts, including increased residential and school options, the area has seen an expanding presence of young professionals, families with children, and empty nesters. Bringing the Y back to the urban core after more than two decades, the Kirk Family YMCA is a welcoming and inclusive community resource that includes programming to support the needs of these diverse populations.

Components include a gym for adult and youth sports programming; a fitness center with cardio and strength training equipment, studios for group exercise, aquatics, an indoor track, and outdoor futsal field. The project also features four community meeting spaces including a demonstration kitchen. These community spaces are home for community engagement, workshops, volunteer training, and events. The historic lobby has been restored to its original grandeur and serves as a commons area including a café and a kids zone.

The design restores and retains much of the original character of the 1926 building while bringing a new energy to the spaces and the surrounding district.