Foundation Celebrates Groundbreaking for New Headquarters

SEATTLE -- Melinda Gates, along with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and more than 500 guests, marked the groundbreaking today for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's new headquarters. The new headquarters—located at 500 Fifth Ave. N. across from Seattle's Space Needle—will feature environmentally-responsible design and a state-of-the-art visitor center. The campus will serve as headquarters for the foundation's work to reduce inequities in the United States and around the world.

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is proud to call Seattle home, and we are pleased to build our global headquarters in this extraordinary city," said Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates. "Our new campus will be an important base for our work with our partners in Seattle and worldwide."

The new campus is scheduled to open in late 2010. Last year the foundation granted more than $2 billion through its three main giving areas–Global Health, Global Development, and its United States Program. In Washington state alone, the foundation, to date, has granted nearly $1 billion to organizations that help the state's most vulnerable children and families. Its new campus will allow the foundation to grow and collaborate in ways that will expand its work here and abroad. The visitor center is scheduled to open in 2011.

Designed by global architecture firm NBBJ, the $500 million campus will be built by Sellen Construction. It features an open, airy office environment that will foster a collaborative working environment. In keeping with Seattle's citywide sustainable building commitment, the project aims to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification  by incorporating a number of "green" design elements.

"The Gates Foundation's new campus will embody two Seattle ideals—environmental stewardship and creating healthy communities for all," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. "The campus will be a great addition to the Seattle Center, and to our city."

Construction of one of the new headquarters' greenest elements—the 1.5 acre living roof of a parking garage owned and operated by Seattle Center—is already complete. The largest of its kind in Seattle, the roof's plantings will provide a natural habitat for birds and will eventually be sustained through rainwater. In addition, extensive green spaces with sustainable landscaping will knit the campus with its neighborhood and further reduce the facility's eco-footprint.

The Gates Foundation's new headquarters will also include a 15,000 square foot visitor center where the general public can learn more about the organization's work to reduce inequities in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. Designed by Ralph Appelbaum & Associates, the visitor center will provide guests with an in-depth look at the issues the foundation champions, providing them with opportunities to learn how they can get involved in solving problems globally and in local communities.