Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Campus: Seattle, WA

Impatient Optimism

At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation campus in Seattle, employees can brainstorm with colleagues next to a dark-water bog that also attracts the occasional heron. Informal breakout spaces scattered throughout the campus are designed to help employees share ideas more freely and move them forward at a faster pace, furthering the Foundation's mission of improving the quality of life of people around the world. Campus systems, from rainwater harvesting to high-efficiency air-cooled chillers with a thermal energy storage tank, reflect the project goals of reducing environmental impact while supporting the local ecosystem.