Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

The centre was set up in 1998; William H. Danforth was its founding chairman and Ernest G. Jaworski its founding director. It is named after Danforth's father, Donald Danforth, a former chief executive of Ralston Purina.

In September 1998 the London practice Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, now Grimshaw, was chosen as design architect, in partnership with HOK of St. Louis, selected as technical architect. The 40-acre site near Warson Road was donated by Monsanto. The client wanted Grimshaw's practice to lead the whole project team, and Andrew Whalley, one of its directors, had to be accredited to practise in Missouri in order to do so. The team also included Arup as structural and mechanical engineer. Most of the design, up to the detailed stage, was carried out in the UK by the practice and Arup, with construction documentation produced in the United States. The facades were made simpler than first intended, and finding cladding firms able to do custom work was hard; the practice eventually turned to the firm Josef Gartner.

The building was dedicated in 2001, the year the centre's first core facilities opened. The William H. Danforth Wing, of 79,000 square feet, was dedicated in 2016; a new atrium links it to the original building.

The building has three storeys and is organised in two main wings. On the upper floors, open-plan levels hold laboratories, offices and ancillary spaces, encouraging colleagues to exchange ideas.

At the centre, a full-height atrium serves as a naturally lit internal garden and as a buffer between the air-conditioned areas and the outdoors. The lower level holds the greenhouses, the environmentally controlled growth chambers, a café and a 300-seat auditorium.

The envelope combines louvred glazing with coloured blinds powered by photovoltaic cells, which make it flexible and able to respond to the weather.

An independent non-profit institute, the centre sets out to use plant science to better the human condition. The original building's research space can hold up to 100 scientists.

The centre is a private facility, but guided tours are arranged on prior request, through the form on the tours page; they are led, subject to availability, by a specially trained guide.

Tours run during business hours, Monday to Friday, and usually last 60 to 90 minutes. They are limited to 15 guests, with no more than two wheelchairs per group; the building is accessible, but the route involves a lot of walking, stairs and ramps.