The Gates Foundation: A Virtual Tour of the New Campus

In June 2011, the Gates Foundation will consolidate its operations on a new campus across from the Seattle Center. The $500 million campus was designed to be a model of durability, sustainability, and workplace efficiency. The main campus buildings are two dramatic, glass-walled structures that curve like boomerangs, with arms stretching out in different directions.

Here’s a 3-minute virtual tour of the new campus:

Sustainability
The new campus was designed with sustainability in mind. A 1.2 million-gallon storage pool underneath the campus holds enough rainwater to supply toilets and irrigate plants, reducing the foundation's demand for city water by more than 70 percent. Equally impressive is the more than half an acre of green roofs, which insulate, reduce heat, limit rainwater runoff, and add a bird-friendly habitat. Click here for a diagram of the sustainable features.

Visitor Center
The new campus will also feature an 11,000-square-foot visitor center, which will be open to the public. The center showcases the foundation's work and includes hands-on exhibits about clean water and other global issues. For example, visitors will get a chance to lift buckets and experience what it's like for millions of people in the developing world to carry water. For more info, see Visitor Center.