In 2000 an astonishing £30 million Lottery Grant provided the Millenium Seed Bank’s efficient, modern, futuristic space. Since then, Kew's Millenium Seed Bank has been the key player in a global effort to preserve endangered plant species on a global scale.

Wellcome Trust Millenium Building

The Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, named after its main funder, was designed by architects Stanton Williams and covers 5,500 square metres. This state-of-the-art complex in the Sussex countryside, is adjacent to the Seed Bank’s previous home, Kew’s Wakehurst Place mansion.

As well as research laboratories with a staff of sixty scientific workers, there are vast underground storage vaults where samples are kept in temperatures of below 20°C.