Gates Foundation Discovery Center

The Gates Foundation Discovery Center is an exhibition space at 440 5th Ave N in Seattle, across from Seattle Center. Its displays explore global issues such as health, poverty, sanitation and gender equality, alongside approaches the foundation and its partners use to address them. Try the interactive water-tasting activity or sensory experiments, and look for examples of health innovations, including work related to polio and malaria. Admission is free. Check whether the center is open to the public before making the trip, as access information is inconsistent.

Exhibits on global challenges

The center explains work by the Gates Foundation and its partners in areas that include global health, agriculture, education and gender equality. Exhibits address challenges such as poverty and climate change, and present innovations developed to improve conditions in communities around the world.

Health displays include examples connected to treating or preventing diseases such as polio and malaria. Sanitation and waste disposal have also featured in the exhibitions, alongside displays about women’s empowerment and motherhood. The particular exhibits can change, so check what is on before you go.

Interactive displays and tours

Activities invite visitors to take part rather than only read about the issues. One water-tasting activity asks you to distinguish between tap, filtered and bottled water; a sensory experiment explores how smell can be affected. There has also been a quiet room for visitors with sensory sensitivities.

Free public staff tours are listed for 2 pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and group tours are available by reservation. Public access information is inconsistent, so confirm that the center is open to individual visitors and that tours are running before setting out.