Arrive curious.
Leave inspired.

Imagine a world where all of us can live healthy and productive lives. Explore our exhibitions, learn about the work of the Gates Foundation and its partners, and be inspired to take action on causes you care about.

Plan your free visit

Hours and location

Open Wednesday – Saturday | 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Public tour @ 2 p.m. | Toilet tour @ 3:30 p.m., Wednesday – Saturday

440 Fifth Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109

Always free

Upcoming events and tours

Explore all

Low Sensory Input Morning

Saturday, April 12, 2025 | 10 – 11 am PST
Discovery Center

Low sensory input mornings take place during the first hour and a half that the Discovery Center is open on select Saturdays. The space is fully open to the public during these times. The Discovery Center is mostly lit by natural light through a bank of windows, but during these low sensory mornings, the gallery lighting is lowered, videos operate with captions, and the audio is turned off.

Visitors participate in a stationary tour at the Discovery Center.

Tour & Staff Chat

Thursday, April 24, 2025 | 2 – 3 pm PST
Discovery Center

World Malaria Day | Tour the galleries for 30 minutes with a Discovery Center guide and then chat with a featured staff member at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation about their area of focus.

Women installs a mosquito net around her bed — Alzerona Freitas, 55, arranges her new bed net on June 21, 2018 in Nossa Senhora de Fátima Community, Manaus, Brazil. Freitas says she’s allergic to the insecticide powder that covers the net and has to wash it before use. Unidade Básica de Saúde Rural (UBSR) Nossa Senhora de Fátima is located in the Nossa Senhora de Fátima Community, a rural area of Manaus, about 1-hour up the Tarumã-Mirim River. The clinic offers basic health services including malaria and TB diagnostic and treatment, prenatal care, among others.

Earth Day Celebration

Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 10 am – 3 pm PST
Discovery Center

Join us at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center for an inspiring Earth Day program! Dive into innovation and action as we explore groundbreaking ideas for a healthier future.

Visitors enjoy the environmental artist Vaughn Bell’s installation “Village Green: Loopscapes, 2024” on view in the “A Better Way to Go: Toilets and the Future of Sanitation” exhibition.

2nd Annual Women’s Leadership Gathering

Tuesday, April 29, 2025 | 4 – 7 pm PST
Discovery Center

This gathering brings together women leaders from diverse industries to share insights, exchange ideas, and drive meaningful change toward gender equity in the workplace.

Guests applaud during and event at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center. — Guests applaud during the presentation during the International Women’s Day celebration at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center in Seattle, Washington, on March 5, 2024.

Featured Exhibition

A Better Way to Go
Toilets and the Future of Sanitation

Explore innovations, powerful stories, toilets of the future, art installations, and visions of resilient and sustainable sanitation systems.

View the exhibition

On view

Our work gallery

At the Discovery Center, you’ll see examples of how we work with partners around the world to fight disease, gender inequality, make agricultural innovations, and more.

On view

Get involved gallery

How would you change your community for the better? We share all sorts of ways you can make a difference.

Close up of the share your cause rack in the Discovery Center. Visitors can personalize a card and hang on the rack during their visit.

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Arrive curious. Leave inspired.