The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest grant-giving charity, commissioned a new campus in Seattle, USA as the headquarters for the foundation's work to reduce inequalities around the world. AMA won a global competition to provide workplace consultancy services to the Foundation. The project's brief was: first, to create a workplace which was future-proof - a challenging task for the headquarters of such a dynamic and fast-growing organisation. Second, funds allocated to the building were to be 'humble and mindful' - spent wisely on the basis of informed decisions. Drawing on the battery of research tools at its disposal, AMA revealed current working practices and space use, and recommended the configuration and management of the new space.
Together the project team developed an exemplar campus that has been awarded LEED Platinum for New Construction, making it the largest non-profit building in the world to receive these credentials for its environmental strategies, performance and contribution to sustainable design. It also won an American Institute of Architects Honor Award.
Images © 2013 Tim Hursley
This project has been featured in the following publications:
Cheek, L., 2012. In New Office Designs, Room to Roam and to Think, The New York Times.
McLachlan, J., 2012. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Onoffice Magazine.
© 2010 AMA Alexi Marmot Associates
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