The European Spallation Source is one of the largest science and technology infrastructure projects being built today. The facility design and construction includes a linear proton accelerator, a heavy-metal target station, a large array of state-of-the-art neutron instruments, a suite of laboratories, and a supercomputing data management and software development center. In the context of its history and future as a scientific organisation, it is however more than an advanced research tool. It is a brand new organisation, being built from the ground up.